
Class ^£i5^ 
Book_ hLj^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSfT. 



Noted 
Pennsylvanians 



BY 

WALTER LEFFERTS 

BDPEBVISINa PBINCIPAL, THOMAS G. MORTON SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA 



" We have every reason to be proud of our State, and per- 
haps we ought to cherish more State pride than we possess. 
This, when not carried to excess, when it scorns to depre- 
ciate a rival, is a noble and useful principle of action." 

— James Buchanan. 




PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 






COPYHIOHT, I9I3. BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 

PHILADELPHIA, V. 8. A. 



©CI.A346427 



PREFACE 



This book contains the life-stories of twenty 
Pennsylvanians who are or were famous throughout 
the nation. We need to know our great citizens 
better. New England has steeped her people in love 
of their history until tourists flock to the hallowed 
ground. Other sections of the country might well 
follow New England's example. 

The aim of the book is to strike a mean between 
the prolix volume consulted by few and the brief 
account which leaves a reader unsatisfied as to the 
connection of events. Nothing more bewilders the 
mind than to be confronted with a figure who appar- 
ently has sprung to greatness in a moment — nothing 
could be more untrue than such a semblance. These 
accounts strive to present the steps, from childhood 
on, by which the persons described made their way. 

These life-stories cannot fail to bring out strongly 
the power of hard, persistent work toward definite 
ends. If the young people who read them absorb that 
idea, the author will be repaid for his labor. 

The book supplements the usual course in United 
States history. There is no better way of teaching 
history to the young than to impart it through the 
medium of biography. ''These our actors" have left 



4 PREFACE 

behind more than "the baseless fabric of a vision." 
Their lives span the whole existence of organized 
Pennsylvania. To suit the narrations to children, 
literary style has been made secondary to conciseness 
of statement. 

Two distinguished persons have been intentionally 
omitted from our list. The lives of Penn and Franklin 
have been already so well and often described that no 
school-child has excuse for ignorance concerning 
them. James G. Blaine is also excluded, because, 
although a Pennsylvanian by birth, he in a special 
sense represented Maine throughout his career. 
Exception may be taken to the inclusion of Audubon, 
but it was in our State that his life-work began. 

The thanks of the author are due to J. B. Lippin- 
cott Company for permission to use selections from 
the works of Thomas Buchanan Read. 

W. L. 

Philadelphia, March, 1913 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Francis Daniel Pastorius, Founder of Germantown.. . 9 

II. James Logan, Penn's Right-hand Man 17 

III. Conrad Weiser, The Great Interpreter 24 

IV. Robert Morris, Financier of the Revolution 38 

V. Anthony Wayne, The General of the Bayonet 55 

VI. John Barry, Hero of Our Infant Navy 66 

VII. Stephen Girard, The Stern Benefactor 78 

VIII. Robert Fulton, The Successful Steamboat-Maker. ... 87 

IX. John James Audubon, The Woodsman of America 100 

X. Elisha Kent Kane, Explorer of the North 118 

XI. LUCRETIA MOTT, ThE FrIEND OF THE SlAVE 128 

XII. Matthias Baldwin, Builder of Locomotives 135 

XIII. Bayard Taylor, Poet and Traveller 147 

XIV. Thomas Buchanan Read, Patriot of Many Gifts 160 

XV. James Buchanan, Pennsylvania's Only President 170 

XVI. George Brinton McClellan, The Young Napoleon.. . . 186 

XVII. George Gordon Meade, The Hero of Gettysburg 196 

XVIII. Andrew Gregg Curtin, The War Governor 209 

XIX. Thaddeus Stevens, Leader of Congress 222 

XX. Andrew Carnegie, The King of Steel 237 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Court and Town Seal, Germantown 9 

Here William Penn Received Pastorius in a Most Courteous Way. . 11 

James Logan 17 

Even the Stairway Was Pressed into Service 20 

Conrad Weiser 24 

Burning the Squatters' Cabins 32 

Robert Morris 38 

Collecting Money for the Troops 43 

Anthony Wayne 55 

Capture of Stony Point 62 

John Barry 66 

The Other Captain Came Aboard the "Alliance" to Surrender His 

Sword 72 

Stephen Girard 78 

Carrying Yellow Fever Patient to the Hospital 81 

Robert Fulton 87 

Robert and His Chum Could Sit Comfortably and yet Make the 

Boat Travel 89 

John James Audubon 100 

The Secretary Had Seen His Escape 103 

Elisha Kent Kane 118 

At Last They Found the Men Lying Within Their Tent 123 

Lucretia Mott 128 

This Man Will See Me Safe Through 131 

Matthias William Baldwin 135 

": Can Make It," He Cried 140 

Bayard Taylor 147 

Bayard Taylor and His Cousin Walking to Washington 150 

Thomas Buchanan Read 160 



8 ILLUSTRATIONS 

Do you Suppose I Can Write a Poem to Order? 165 

James Buchanan 170 

God Help the Poor To-night! 177 

George Brinton McClellan 186 

Over the Cascade Mountains Passed the Expedition 189 

George Gordon Meade 196 

The Order Came During the Night 200 

Andrew Gregg Curtin 209 

Andrew Gregg Curtin and the Two Poor Children 217 

Thaddeus Stevens 222 

They Pushed Toward Him with Curses and Threats 229 

Andrew Carnegie 237 

Andrew Sent Orders under Mr. Scott's Name 240 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 




COURT SEAL 



FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS. 

1651-1719. 

FOUNDER OF GERMANTOWN. 

Penn and the Pietists. — The religion of the Quakers, 
or Society of Friends, began in England, and most 
of the Friends have been of English blood. The 
Friends, however, were not sat- 
isfied to confine their religion 
to the British Isles, and sent 
missionaries through Holland 
and Germany. There these 
missionaries met many persons 
whose belief was already like 

that of the Friends. One sect was called the Men- 
nonites, and many of these afterward came to Penn- 
sylvania. 

About twenty-five years after the first Quaker 
missionaries had come to the Dutch and Germans, 
William Penn, then about thirty years old, with sev- 
eral companions, set out on a similar errand. While 
travelling in Germany, tliey came to the city of Frank- 
fort. There they found a number of thoughtful and 
well-to-do persons, who regularly met to discuss 
matters of religion. Because the thoughts of these 

9 



TOWN SEAL 



10 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

persons were so much turned to piety or goodness, 
they were called Pietists. 

The Pietists became very friendly with the 
Quakers, and were sorry when the time came for 
Penn and his companions to return to England. Four 
years later the Pietists heard that William Penn had 
received from the King a great tract of land in 
America, and that he wished his German friends who 
were not satislSed with religious affairs at home to 
settle in his province of Pennsylvania. 

As the Pietists, like the Quakers, had been perse- 
cuted on account of their beliefs, several of them de- 
cided to buy land from Penn and emigrate to the New 
World. Just at this time a young lawyer of Frank- 
fort came back from a long series of travels through 
Europe. This lawyer was a Pietist, but had never met 
Penn. His name was Francis Daniel Pastorius. 

Pastorius Goes to Pennsylvania. — The father of 
Pastorius was a rich and well-educated lawyer, and 
had brought up his son to the same profession. 
Francis Pastorius, before settling down to practice 
law, made a tour of two years "to see the world." 
When he returned, he soon learned of the news about 
Pennsylvania. 

The friends of Pastorius were so pleased with the 
prospect of going to America that he too became in- 
terested. *'I will go with you," he said at last. *'It 
will be easier to lead a quiet, godly, and honest life in 
a howling wilderness than here in Germany." 



FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS 



II 



His friends were glad to know of his resolve. As 
Pastorius was a lawyer, tliey made him their- agent 
to buy their land, and asked him to manage all the 
affairs necessary for settling in the country. In May, 




HERE WILLIAM PENN RECEIVED PASTORIUS IN A MOST COURTEOUS WAT. 

1683, Pastorius bought from Penn's agent the land 
which his friends desired. They were not ready to go 
to America yet — in fact, not one of them ever did 
cross the Atlantic — but it was necessary for Pastorius 
to go over and personally select the land. The 
Pietists wished to be sure of fertile ground in a 
favorable place. 



12 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

One June day, Pastorius with several servants 
went on board a ship appropriately called tlie 
"America," and ten weeks later, so slow then was 
the passage, arrived at the new settlement of Phila- 
delphia. Here William Penn received him in a most 
courteous way, but he soon found that Penn was not 
willing to abide by the agreement which had been 
made concerning the German land. 

The agent had agreed that the Germans should 
have 15,000 acres in one piece, and that this should 
lie along some river which could be navigated. Pas- 
torius had not brought any settlers for the Frank- 
fort land, and Penn, anxious that his province should 
grow, wished to give the best land to others who 
seemed likely to cultivate it sooner. Pastorius dis- 
covered that Penn naturally wished to put off carry- 
ing out the agreement with the Frankfort purchasers 
until some of them should come over or send actual 
settlers. 

Founding of Germantown. — Fortunately, just at 
this time thirteen families arrived from another part 
of Germany. Pastorius formed a partnership with 
them, and secured from Penn a grant for a township 
of six thousand acres, or nearly ten square miles of 
ground. Penn, however, would not give to the Ger- 
mans any tract along the Delaware or Schuylkill, but 
made them take their ground on the high land above 
the Wissahickon. He made the condition that thirty 
families should be settled on the land within a year. 



FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS 13 

Winter was close at hand, and it was necessary 
to begin work immediately. The new settlement was 
begun on October 24th. It was called the German 
town or Germantown and was six miles from Phila- 
delphia. It had a main street sixty feet wide, which 
is now known as Germantown Avenue. Along this 
street the rough little houses were placed. Each 
house had three acres of ground as its lot, but Pas- 
torius had worked so hard to get the land from Penn 
that he received six acres for his home. 

Few houses were built before winter came, and it 
was a winter of hardship. Pastorius built a house 
in Philadelphia. It was half above and half below 
the ground, and had oiled paper in the windows 
instead of glass. In this little two-roomed hut, 
smaller than a single schoolroom nowadays, he kept 
twenty of the emigrants until spring. No doubt they 
were terribly crowded. Over the door Pastorius 
placed a Latin motto which said: "My house is small, 
but open to good men and closed to evil ones." The 
serious motto on such a mean house amused Penn 
exceedingly. 

Early Hardships. Growth of the Community. — By 
the next spring, about fifty persons were living in 
Germantown, and more Germans soon arrived. They 
were mostly weavers, and expected to earn their daily 
bread by making and selling clothing of all kinds. 
They found to their sorrow that almost every one who 
had come to the New World had been wise enough to 



14 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

provide himself with plenty of thick, stout clothing. 
The poor weavers could not sell their goods, and had 
to turn to farming for awhile. Some heartless person 
made a joke in German on their distress, calling their 
village "Armentown," which meant Poortown. 

It was no joke to the discouraged German weavers. 
They found the New World a hard world during their 
first year. Pastorius cheered them as much as he 
could, and wrote to his friends in Europe to send 
over grape-vine cuttings and all kinds of vegetable 
seeds so that the summer might bring plentiful food. 
The thick forest around the settlement helped to make 
it gloom}^ Often, as Pastorius looked at the trees, 
he wished for strong woodmen to lay them low and to 
build large comfortable houses for the colonists. 

After the first hardships, the settlement slowly 
grew and prospered. Six years after it was laid out, 
Penn granted a charter to it as a real town. Pas- 
torius was made the head or ''bailiff." The new 
town now adopted a seal with which all the official 
papers were stamped. The seal was a clover-leaf. On 
one leaflet was a grape-vine, on another a flax-blossom, 
on the third a weaver's spool. This showed the three 
main ways in which the town's people made a living. 

By this time the land was becoming so cleared and 
settled that the Germans laid out large tracts of 
ground north of Germantown. One of these, which 
covered much of the land where Mount Airy is to-day, 
was called Krisheim or Cresheim, after a German vil- 



FRANCIS DANIEL PASTORIUS 15 

lage whence some of the settlers had come. From this, 
Cresheim Creek and Cresheim Street took the names. 

In the same year when Cresheim was named, 
William Rittinghuysen (Rittenhouse) came over from 
Holland. His forefathers had long carried on in the 
Old World the business of paper-making. Ritten- 
house built on a little stream, now called Paper Mill 
Run, the first paper-mill in America (1690). 

Protest Against Slavery. — Many of the Mennonites, 
whose belief was so like that of the Friends, came to 
G-ermantown. They built a church, and helped 
greatly in making the town prosperous. These Men- 
nonites were thoughtful men. Pastorius and they 
often discussed a matter which later on caused a great 
war in this country. That matter was slavery. 

Few persons then thought it was wrong to hold 
negroes in slavery; but Pastorius and his Mennonite 
friends were ahead of their times. At last they sent 
to the Friends' Meeting in Philadelphia a protest 
against slavery. This was the earliest American 
writing against that evil. 

In this protest they said: "Here (in Pennsylva- 
nia) is liberty of conscience, which is right and reas- 
onable ; here ought to be likewise liberty of the body, 
except of evildoers. But to bring men hither, or to 
steal and sell them, against their will, we stand 
against. In Europe there are many oppressed for 
conscience' sake, and here there are those oppressed 
which are of a black color. Oh, do consider well this 



16 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

thing, you who do it ; if you would be done by iu this 
manner, and if it is done according to Christianity!'' 

Nothing came of the protest at the time, although 
many Friends approved of the paper. A hundred and 
fifty years later, however, it was the Friends who 
were foremost in urging the abolition of slavery, 

Pastorius the Teacher. — Pastorius had received an 
excellent education, although not a practical one. He 
often lamented that he had not studied engineering 
or printing rather than some of the useless learning 
which he had acquired. Men of education, however, 
were not common in Philadelphia, and when the 
Friends set up a free public school they chose Pas- 
torius as one of its two teachers. School lasted eight 
hours every week-day except Saturday, when there 
were lessons in the morning only. 

Pastorius taught school until the very last years 
of his life, and he lived to be nearly seventy. When 
he died, Philadelphia, which he had seen at its begin- 
ning, was a goodly city, and Germantown a settle- 
ment of considerable size. If the German lawyer and 
schoolmaster could return to-day, he would be sur- 
prised to find that Germantown and Philadelphia 
were one, and to see the beautiful homes along the 
streets where once he walked; but he would no doubt 
be proud to think that he took a leading part in the 
beginnings of the old neighborhood, and that the 
Germantown settlers did much to make Philadelphia 
the great manufacturing city which it now is. 



JAMES LOGAN. 
1674-1751. 



PENN'S RIGHT-HAND MAN. 

The Fighting Quaker.— lu the year 1699, William 
Penn was sailing across the Atlantic to make his 
second visit to America. Another ship came into 
sight and seemed to be over- 
taking Penn's vessel. There 
was war between England and 
France, and all feared that the 
strange ship miglit be an enemy, 
who wonld cajDtnre them. 

The crew prepared to fight 
if they were attacked, Penn 
and his friends, who did not 
believe in warfare, went below 
to the cabin ; but one of the com- 
pany, a tall youth named James Logan, stayed on 
deck to help defend the ship. 

Soon Logan came down to tell Penn that the 
strange vessel had proved to be English, after all. 
Penn reproved Logan for undertaking to engage in 
fighting, as he was a Quaker. The young man replied, 
with spirit: ''A¥liy did thee not order me to come 
down? Thee was willing enough that I should stay 
and help to fight the ship, when thee thought there 
was danger!" 

2 17 




JAMES LOGAN. 



18 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Penn would have had a right to give orders to 
Logan, for the latter had been engaged as Penn's 
secretary; but Logan was independent enough to 
stand up before his employer in defence of his action. 
The same sturdy spirit continued throughout Logan's 
life. 

Logan and Penn. — James Logan, then twenty-five 
years of age, was a Scotch-Irishman of Quaker belief. 
He had been a schoolmaster and a merchant. His 
education was good; he had mastered six languages 
besides his own and was expert in mathematics. He 
was no mere book-worm, either, for his business 
ability equalled his learning. 

Penn had expected to stay in Pennsylvania the 
rest of his life, but on this last visit he was able to 
spend less than two years here. The English govern- 
ment wished to make Penn's colony into a royal prov- 
ince, and it was necessary for him to look after aft'airs 
in England so as to prevent that step. 

During Penn's stay, Logan had become not only a 
helper, but also a close friend. Penn trusted his sec- 
retary to the utmost, and, when he sailed away, left 
all his affairs in Pennsylvania under Logan's direc- 
tion. "I have left thee in an uncommon trust," 
wrote Penn, "with a singular dependence on thy jus- 
tice and care." 

There was no mistake in trusting James Logan. 
With great diligence Logan kept Penn informed of 
everything that went on, and attended to all Penn's 



JAMES LOGAN 19 

business affairs in the colony. His zeal for his em- 
ployer's welfare brought him into conflict with some 
of the leaders of the Assembly (the Legislature), and 
they actually impeached him on various unfounded 
charges. Finally they issued a warrant to imprison 
him, but he was saved from that by the Governor. 

William Penn never came back to s6e his colony 
again. During the last six years of his life his mind 
failed, so that his wife Hannah carried on all busi- 
ness for him. Had it not been for James Logan, pov- 
erty would often have oppressed the great founder 
and his family. 

Stenton. Logan's Busy Life. — After more than 
twenty-five j^ears of residence in Philadelphia, Logan 
decided to build a country home for himself. On a 
beautiful piece of ground near the Old York Road he 
erected a house which he called Stenton. There he 
lived for nearly a quarter of a century more. A 
fall lamed him for life just after the house was 
finished, but could not stop his activity of mind. 

For forty years, Logan was almost constantly 
occupied with the business of the city and colony. 
He was made Chief Justice, Mayor and President of 
the Governor's Council. The Governor suddenly 
died, and Logan being the next in office, ruled Penn- 
sylvania for two years, until another Governor was 
chosen. 

In spite of all these affairs, Logan found time to 
write upon various subjects. Especially was he in- 



20 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



terested in plants, and lie corresponded with the great 
Linnaeus, who has been called the father of modern 
botany. Linnaeus named after him a class of herbs 
and shrubs containing 350 kinds. 
AVith Peter Collinson of Eng- 
land, John Bartram's friend, he 
also exchanged many letters. 



PHIOP 




EVEN THE STAIRWAT WAS PRESSED INTO SERVICE. 

Logan and the Indians. Thomas Godfrey. — Logan 
was entrusted with much of the Indian affairs of the 
colony, and the savages recognized his fairness to 
them. After the building of Stenton, the Indian com- 
mittees, that often visited Philadelphia to make 
treaties, were entertained by Logan. The brick-paved 



JAMES LOGAN 21 

hall that ran through the house was many a time filled 
with sleeping Indians rolled in their blankets. Even 
the stairway was pressed into service at night to ac- 
commodate the braves. As many as a hundred Iro- 
quois once stayed for three days as guests. 

One chief, in gratitude for the kindness shown, 
proposed to exchange names with Logan. This was a 
common practice among Indian friends. Logan an- 
swered that although he could not use the Indian 
name himself, he would give it to the little stream 
which flowed through his grounds. The creek still 
bears the name of Wingohocking. The Indian, how- 
ever, did adopt the name of his host, and the name of 
Logan the chief became a famous one in history. 

One day a painter and glazier, named Thomas 
Godfrey, came to work at iStenton. Although he 
was poor, he was a man of remarkable mind, and a 
great student of mathematics. While working on this 
occasion, he noticed the reflections in a piece of glass, 
and a great idea came to him. To see whether his 
idea was practical, he left his work and went into 
Logan's library. There he took down a volume of 
the writings of Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the 
laws of gravitation. 

Logan came in, and seeing the workman with such 
a learned book in hand, was astonished. He asked 
Godfrey some questions. Godfrey explained his idea, 
which was to construct an im])roved instrument by 
which navigators could determine their latitude from 



22 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

observing the sun. It was known as the quadrant. 
Logan assisted Godfrey in every way to complete his 
invention. Though circumstances gave to another 
man the credit, it is pleasant to think that so many 
sailors and passengers have owed their safety to the 
idea which was worked out at Stenton. 

Logan's Book. Stenton Preserved. — All important 
visitors who came to Stenton were invited to see 
Logan's library, of which he was very proud. It 
was probably the largest collection which America 
could boast at that time, for it contained three thou- 
sand volumes, English, Latin, and Greek. His sons 
did not care for reading, so Logan willed the collec- 
tion to the city of Philadelphia, and it was called the 
Loganian Library. The books are now in the great 
building at Broad and Christian Streets. 

As time went on, Logan retired more and more 
from public affairs. As his Indian friends put it, 
he ''was hid in the bushes." Even after he had 
passed the age of seventy, however, his influence re- 
mained powerful with the Indians, who gratefully re- 
membered their friend. When Indian treaties were 
being made, Logan's advice was asked. His greatest 
pleasure was to read in his library, surrounded by 
rows of beloved books. To the last, he could read 
without spectacles, nor did his brown hair turn gray. 

In 1777, when the British captured Philadelphia, 
several of the fine country places around the city were 
destroyed. Stenton, which had been Washington's 



JAMES LOGAN 23 

headquarters, came near sharing this fate. Several 
soldiers came to the house while the family were ab- 
sent, and announced to the servants that they in- 
tended to burn it. They went into the barn to gather 
straw for that jmrpose. 

^^Iiile the soldiers were searching the barn, an 
old negro woman, one of the servants of the Logan 
household, saw a fresh party of British arriving at the 
gate. She went to them and found that they were on 
a hunt for deserters. This was her chance. "There 
are some deserters hiding in the barn, ' ' she informed 
the leader. At once the new arrivals rushed into the 
barn, seized the men whom the.y found there, and car- 
ried them off in triumph. How the old woman laughed 
as they rode away! 

Lord Howe had occasion to be thankful that Sten- 
ton was not burned, for he made his lieadquarters 
tliere just before the battle of Germantown. After 
the Revolution, many distinguished visitors entered 
its hospitable door — the French Minister Genet (who 
caused so much trouble), Benjamin Franklin, Thomas 
Jefferson, and President Washington. 

Now the famous and beautiful house, nearly two 
hundred years old, is owned by the Pennsylvania 
Society of Colonial Dames, and is kept in good condi- 
tion and open for visitors. It stands near the station 
at Wayne Junction, and is well worth a visit. 



CONRAD WEISER. 

1696-1760. 

THE GREAT INTERPRETER. 
" The poor Indian should not be wronged." 

The Germans in New York. — During the eighteenth 
century, Germany was a battleground for most of the 
wars of Europe. Many poor Grermans saw their 
crops destroyed and their houses 
burned. They found little dif- 
ference between soldiers and 
robbers — indeed, robbers would 
often have been more merciful. 
Thousands of farmers fled from 
their home-land, some taking 
ship directly to America, others 
going to England. 

The English government 
tried to settle many of these 
Germans, or "Palatines" as 
tbey were called, in the colony 
of New York. There, it was 
thought, they could make a good 
living raising hemp for ropes and getting tar from 
pine-trees. Both ropes and tar were needed by Eng- 
land for her ships. 

The Germans who thus came to New York settled 
near Albany. They did not prosper, and many nearly 

24 




CONBAD WEISER. FROM 

SKETCH FOUND IN YORK, PA., 
BY H. DIFFENDERFER. COPY IN 
POSSESSION OF HISTORICAL SO- 
CIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. ONLY 
PORTRAIT IN EXISTENCE. 



CONRAD WEISER 25 

starved. Governor Keith of Pennsylvania heard of 
their j^light. He invited them to come to his colony, 
and promised them good land. A company of these 
Germans therefore cut a road through the woods to 
the Susquehanna. In rough boats thej^ floated down 
the rocky river to the mouth of Swatara Creek, which 
they followed up to the beautiful Lebanon Valley, 
where they settled along Tulpehocken Creek. 

Weiser and the Indians. — One of the Germans who 
came to New York was named Weiser. He had a son 
named Conrad, a sturdy, independent lad. Conrad 
helped his father in supporting the family, but after 
three years' trial, they, in company with other Ger- 
mans, removed to another neighborhood. 

This removal made matters worse. The family 
had almost nothing to eat. The Mohawk Indians, 
friendly to whites, then lived in that section, and one 
of them offered to take Conrad into his wigwam 
for the winter. As it would mean one less mouth to 
feed, the father sent Conrad there. The lad learned 
the Mohawk language during that winter, but he often 
wislied himself back in his own poor home. "I en- 
dured a great deal of cold," he said, "but by spring 
my hunger much surpassed the cold." He did not 
then foresee how valuable his knowledge of Indian 
language and customs would become. 

Conrad did not long remain at home after his re- 
turn from the camp of the savages. His father grew 
so stern that when the youth was eighteen years old 



26 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

he left home to make his own way in the world. 
Conrad remained in the neighborhood, built a cabin, 
and earned a good income by selling furs. For fifteen 
years he spent as much time with Indians as he did 
with whites. 

Weiser Meets Shikellimy, The Iroquois. — Meanwhile 
Weiser's family had removed to Tulpehocken Creek, 
and there Conrad finally followed them. In his new 
home he continued his hunting expeditions. On one 
of these journeys he met an Iroquois Indian named 
Shikellimy.^ This redman was delighted to find that 
Weiser could speak Mohawk, and the two became 
great friends. 

Several Indian tribes, of whom the Mohawks were 
one, then occupied the central part of New York, from 
the Lakes to the Hudson. They were banded together 
to form the Iroquois league. They were strong, fierce 
warriors, and lived in a position of such advantage 
that their friendship was courted by both French and 
English. Not only were the Iroquois powerful in 
themselves, but they also controlled several other 
tribes which they had conquered, particularly the 
Delawares and the Shawnees in Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania, however, had never thought of the 
importance of the Iroquois. The dealings of William 
Penn and his successors had been entirely with the 
Delawares. The Iroquois, however, now decided that 
they would more strictly oversee the affairs of the 

> Shi-kelli-my. 



CONRAD WEISER 27 

Pennsylvania Indians, and sent a chief to live at the 
forks of the Susquehanna and look after such affairs. 
This chief was Sliikellimy, whom Weiser had met. 

Weiser Becomes Interpreter, — Shikellimy com- 
plained to the Governor of Pennsylvania that the 
trade in liquor was causing the ruin of the Delawares 
and Shawnees. The Governor then asked him to come 
to Philadelphia to discuss the matter. When he ar- 
rived, he brought with him Weiser, as interpreter, 
for Shikellimy could neither speak nor understand 
English. He called Weiser "an adopted son of the 
Mohawk nation." 

James Logan saw the value of an honest man like 
Weiser who could render service to the colony. Ac- 
cordingly Weiser was made the agent for Pennsyl- 
vania in dealing with the Iroquois. Weiser thus rep- 
resented both the Indians and the whites. Each side 
had confidence that he could be depended upon. Not 
many instances of this kind occur in our dealings with 
the redmen. 

"Conrad Weiser," declared the Iroquois, "is a 
good, true man, who will speak our words and not his 
own. He and Shikellimy are the only two messengers 
who shall go between the Six Nations (the Iroquois) 
and the sons of Onas (Penn). Their bodies are to be 
equally divided between the Indians and the white 
men, one half to each." 

The duties of Weiser as interpreter were not con- 
fined to translating words from one tongue into an- 



28 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

other. He had to give advice as to the best course to 
pursue in various cases, make journeys to the Indian 
villages, keep both sides informed of important mat- 
ters, and, in short, carry out all details of Indian 
affairs. For nearly thirty years Conrad Weiser was 
consulted whenever such business came up, and that 
was frequently, indeed. 

Pennsylvania tried to get many chiefs, drawn 
from all the Iroquois tribes, to come to Philadeli)hia 
to make a great treaty. It was hard to induce the 
Indians to come so far, but at last more than a hun- 
dred chiefs suddenly appeared, at a time when small- 
pox raged in the city. The colony was taken unaware. 
What should be done with the visitors? Weiser sug- 
gested taking them to Stenton, tlie home of James 
Logan, who was then acting as Governor. His advice 
was carried out, and the Indians were much pleased 
to be entertained at the Governor's own home. They 
signed a satisfactory treaty. 

Indian Affairs of Other States. — Weiser now entered 
into the Indian affairs of Virginia and Maryland. 
The Iroquois claimed that these two colonies should 
pay them for lands west of the mountains, over which 
the war-trails of the Northern Indians had been made. 
Their claim was poor, but Weiser saw it was best to 
humor them a little. War between the French and 
English might break out at any time, and the result 
of the conflict in America would depend largely on 
the friendship of the Iroquois. 



CONRAD WEISER 29 

Through Weiser's influence Maryland sent 
presents to the Iroquois and promised to arrange for 
a treaty. Virginia, however, disj^leased the rednien 
by taking no notice of their claim. A fight occurred, 
moreover, between a party of Iroquois and some 
Virginia settlers. Several fell on each side, and the 
Indians prepared to send a large band of warriors to 
attack the A^irginians. As the savages would have 
to pass through Pennsylvania to do this, both colonies 
were in danger. 

Naturally, Weiser was called upon to arrange 
matters. He went to the home of Shikellimy, and 
there met representatives of the Iroquois, whose an- 
ger he soothed, and secured their promise to do noth- 
ing against Virginia. Many lives were thus saved. 
Weiser also arranged for a meeting between Maryland 
and Virginia commissioners and the Indians. 

This meeting took place the next year (1744) at 
Lancaster, then but lately founded. At first the com- 
missioners from the other two colonies thought that 
Weiser might favor the Iroquois too much, but when 
they saw how the Governor of Pennsylvania trusted 
him, they said no more, and all parties concerned 
came to a good understanding. To Weiser might 
truthfully be given the name which Henry Clay later 
received — the Peacemaker. 

Weiser in the Ohio Valley. The Logstown Treaty. — 
The French and the English had long l)een at odds in 
America. Now the French were rapidly pushing 



30 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

their influence southward, so as to confine the Eng- 
lish to the country east of the mountains. They built 
forts, made treaties with the Indians, and tried to 
keep out of the Mississippi Valley all English traders 
and explorers. 

Weiser, through his Indian friends, kept informed 
of the French movements. He saw the importance 
of securing to the English the country "at the forks 
of the Ohio," as they then called the region where 
Pittsburgh now stands. That spot was the key of the 
Ohio Valley. Should that vast region belong to the 
French or the English! A few years might decide. 
He urged upon Pennsylvania the need for making 
friends with the tribes along the Ohio. This would 
be easier to do since those tribes were mostly in 
alliance with the Iroquois. 

In the summer of 1748, Conrad Weiser began a 
journey to the Western tribes. He took a train of 
pack-horses loaded with presents. Along the ''Tus- 
carora Path" he travelled to the Juniata River at 
Standing Stone, now called Huntingdon. Then by 
way of Clearfield the expedition reached the Alle- 
gheny River. There they left their horses, and in 
canoes floated down to Logstown, a large Indian vil- 
lage where Economy now stands. 

Weiser had come among Indians strange to him, 
and he used every means of which he could think to 
impress them. Several tribes were to take part in a 
meeting for which Weiser had arranged. On the day 



CONRAD WEISER 31 

when their deputies were expected, he raised the Eng- 
lish flag on a pole and invited all the Indians to drink 
the King's health. When the deputies arrived, 
Weiser and his men fired salutes in their honor. 
Ceremony, he knew, was dear to the Indian heart. 

At the conference were represented all the tribes 
controlling the Northwest Territory (the land north 
of the Ohio and west of the Mississippi). Weiser 
spoke pleasantly and persuasively to each tribe and 
laid out a heap of presents for each. He won their 
favor. ' ' The white men, ' ' said the Indians, ' ' have tied 
our hearts to theirs. Look on us as true brothers." 

The Logstown treaty not only gained the support 
of the Western Indians in case of war with the 
French, but also opened to the English the fur trade 
of the whole Northwest Territory. Unfortunately, 
the English threw away the advantage which Weiser 
had gained. The various colonies concerned either 
made conflicting laws about trading, or failed to regu- 
late it at all. So the fur trade gradually drifted back 
to the French, whose single government gave no such 
cause for offence. 

Trouble with Squatters. — The squatters who located 
their cabins on ground which the Indians had re- 
served for their own hunting caused much trouble. 
The Indians particularly loved the Juniata country, 
perhaps for its beauty, and certainly for its good 
deer-hunting. They insisted that they would keep 
this for themselves, and that if Pennsylvania could not 



32 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



keep her citizens from settling there the Indians would 

dispose of the squatters with arrow and tomahawk. 

Pennsylvania therefore hought from the redmen 

a tract of land, extending through the present coal 

r 




BURNING THE SQUATTERS CABINS. 



regions of Pottsville and Maucli Chunk to the "Water 
Gap, for her restless inhabitants to settle. She 
warned all white men to move out of the Juniata 
country, but no one went. Then Conrad Weiser and 
some others were sent to enforce the law. They went 
through every valley, forced the squatters to move 



CONRAD WEISER 33 

their goods out of their cabins, then burned the 
cabins. It was an unpleasant but necessary duty. 
One of those thus driven away was Simon Girty, who 
obtained an evil fame afterward as a leader of Indians 
against the colonists. 

The squatters, however, came back to the Juniata 
in time, and it seemed that no force could keep them 
out. Pennsylvania therefore l)ought that region from 
the Iroquois. When the Delawares living on the land 
asked the extent of the purchase, they were deceived. 
They soon found, however, that more of their lands 
had been taken than Pennsylvania had allowed them 
to believe. They became enraged, and the anger of 
the chiefs was increased by the selling of rum among 
them, which Pennsylvania would not limit. 

Weiser objected to these causes of offence. 
"Don't take all the land the treaty gives you," he 
said to the Governor. ''The Delawares have been 
deceived. Take nothing except the land which they 
understand has been sold, and leave the rest, to escape 
trouble," There spoke an honest and wise man. 
Weiser found that the very justices of the peace, 
whose duty it was to keep down the liquor trade with 
the Indians, were selling rum to the redmen. To 
one of these rascals he exclaimed, "The best thing for 
the Indians would be for the Governor to discharge 
you and all others of your kind, and j^ut in men who 
are not whiskey traders." 
3 



34 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Pennsylvania's Indian War. — Soon the savages took 
a bloody revenge for the disregard of Weiser's ad- 
vice. As soon as the news of Braddock's defeat 
spread among the Indians, the Western tribes has- 
tened to attack the English. Many years before, the 
Delawares had been conquered by the Iroquois, who 
made them "women," as the Indians said — that is, 
forbade them to engage in war without permission 
from their conquerors. Now many of the Delawares 
shook off the yoke of the Iroquois, and declared that 
they were *' women" no longer. 

Some of the Indians who had been with Brad- 
dock's army came to Philadelphia, brought by Conrad 
Weiser. They were friends to the English, but had 
no praise for Braddock. "It was the pride and 
ignorance of that great general who came from Eng- 
land which caused our defeat," they said. "He 
looked upon us as dogs, and would never listen to us, 
though we endeavored to advise him. Don't give up 
fighting, but don't let those that come from over the 
great seas be concerned any more; they are unfit to 
fight in the woods." 

Weiser managed to keep the Indians of eastern 
Pennsylvania true to the whites, but the western 
savages swarmed upon the frontier, which then was 
the Susquehanna. They burned many a log cabin 
and took many a scalp. John Harris, the old trader 
who lived at the ferry where Harrisburg is now 
located, went with a party to bury some of the dead. 



CONRAD WEISER 35 

but the Indians attacked him from ambush and killed 
half his men. He retreated to his house, cut loopholes 
in it, and prepared to hold out to the last. 

Colonel Weiser. — When Conrad Weiser heard of 
this attack he sent messengers to alarm his neighbors 
at Tulpehocken. They gathered about his house and 
made him their commander. Soon he had a force of 
nearly five hundred men. ' ' We agreed, ' ' said Weiser, 
^ ' to engage the enemy wherever we should meet them, 
never to inquire the number, but fight them." The 
Governor sent him a colonel's commission, saying: 
''I have not time to give you any instructions, but 
leave it to your judgment to do what is most for the 
safet.y of the people." He knew that Weiser could 
be depended upon to act, and to act promptly. 

It was the first Indian war in Pennsylvania's his- 
tory of seventy-five years, and caused great terror. 
The colony decided to build a line of forts near the 
Blue Mountains. Benjamin Franklin took charge of 
those built near the Lehigh, and Conrad Weiser of 
those between the Susquehanna and the Schuylkill. 
Weiser enlisted soldiers, and bought arms and sup- 
plies, advancing the money himself. In short, when 
anything needed to be done to protect that part of the 
frontier, Weiser was the man who looked after it. 

The Pennsylvania Assembly, however, though 
glad enough to have this service done, did not trouble 
itself to pay Weiser 's bills after the war was over. 
For three years his accounts lay unsettled. Weiser 



36 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

wrote: ''I have found by experience that new debts 
are suffered to grow old ones, and okl ones are never 
paid, which is but poor encouragement for faithful 
servants to the Government." At last Weiser's coun- 
sel was badly needed. When he was asked to come 
to Philadelphia, he declined to do so until his bills 
were settled. The colony promptly paid the money. 

The French offered a reward for Weiser's scalp, 
but Weiser prevented any bounty on scalps being paid 
by the English. He knew that if this were done, some 
lawless frontiersmen would kill friendly Indians for 
the money. Since Weiser aimed at justice to all In- 
dians, and i^rotected those who did not fight against 
the English, the rougher men among the border set- 
tlers threatened to shoot him. Thus he had enemies 
on both sides, but the old man's heart was stout, and 
he continued to carry out what his conscience told 
him was right. 

End of the War. Weiser's Death. — Many of the 
older men among the Delawares remembered the kind 
treatment which the Quakers had given them in years 
gone by, and wished that the war would cease. Pax- 
inosa,^ head of the Shawnees at Wyoming, and several 
Delaware chiefs, persuaded Teedyuscung, the war- 
chief of the fighting Delawares, to agree to bury the 
hatchet. 

The Governor and Teedyuscung held a conference 
at Easton. Weiser brought a guard of soldiers for 

^ Paxinosa Inn at Easton is named after the chief. 



CONRAD WEISER 37 

the Governor and acted as interpreter. It took two 
more years, however, to make a final peace. 

Weiser now was over sixty years old. His work 
was almost done. New York had jealously forbidden 
him to act any longer in Iroquois affairs. He was 
still honored in his own State, but two years later, 
before England finally triumphed over France in 
America, he died at Womelsdorf, near Reading, and 
was buried there. "He has left no one to fill his 
place," said one of his old associates. "We are at a 
great loss and sit in darkness," declared an Iroquois 
orator. If all white men had been as just and friendly 
to the Indians as was this Pennsylvania German, the 
history of our westward advance might have been 
spared some bloody chapters. 



ROBERT MORRIS. 

1734-1806. 

FINANCIER OF THE REVOLUTION. 

" It is the duty of every individual to act his part in whatever 
station to which his country may call him in hours of difficulty, 
danger, and distress." 

The Firm of Willing and Morris. — One day, almost 
thirty years before the Revolutionary War broke out, 
an English vessel sailed up Chesapeake Bay and 

landed at a little Maryland 
town a boy of thirteen. Mr. 
Morris, his father, had come to 
America as an agent for buying 
tobacco and shipping it across 
the Atlantic, and had left his 
son Robert in England until 
prospects seemed favorable. 
Now the motherless Robert 
had come to rejoin his father. 
Though Mr. Morris was delighted to see the 
sturdy lad, he realized that the little Maryland town 
was not a good place in which to educate a boy; so 
Robert soon was sent to Philadelphia. A friend of 
Mr. Morris agreed to look after Robert in his educa- 
tion and then secure him a position. 
38 




ROBERT MORRIS. 



ROBERT MORRIS 39 

Robert easily mastered his studies, but did not 
care to continue long at school. In a year or so his 
friend found him a place in the business of Mr. 
Charles Willing. Robert liked the business, and at- 
tended so well to his duties as clerk that his employer 
was much jjleased. As soon as Robert Morris had 
come of age, Mr. Willing made him a partner and 
turned over his own share to his son Thomas. 

Soon the firm of Willing and Morris became one 
of the most famous and most trusted in Philadelphia. 
They traded with the West Indies and with Europe. 
Long before the Revolution broke out the two part- 
ners became wealthy men. They were regarded as 
among the foremost people in the city. 

The Stamp Paper. — In October, 1765, an English 
merchant vessel, accompanied by a royal war-vessel, 
and filled with "the horrible stamp paper," as 
patriots called it, sailed up to Philadelphia. All the 
other ships lying there put their flags at half-mast, 
to show distress. The bells of the city rang slowly 
and sadly, as though for a funeral. Negroes were 
paid to go through the streets beating drums hung 
with crape. At the State House a great meeting was 
held to decide what should be done. 

A committee of seven lawyers and merchants, 
with Robert jMorris at its head, was chosen to visit 
John Hughes, who was to sell the stamps. Although 
Mr. Hughes lay sick in bed, Morris and his friends 
would take no denial. They reasoned with him, and 



40 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

at last obtained a promise that he would sell no 
stamps until the people gave him leave. It was well 
that Hughes promised, otherwise the mob would prob- 
ably have torn down his house. 

The next month four hundred Philadelphia mer- 
chants, among whom were Morris and Willing, agreed 
that until the hated Stamp Act should be repealed, 
they would import no goods from England. This 
would hurt business, but Morris and his fellow-mer- 
chants put their patriotism above their purses. 

Morris in Congress. — Robert Morris was not anx- 
ious for war. Like Washington, he hoped that mat- 
ters would be settled peaceably between England and 
America. When war did come, however, he was not 
backward in serving his country. As soon as the 
news of Lexington arrived, the Pennsylvania Legis- 
lature, then called the Assembly, appointed a Com- 
mittee of Safety. Of this committee Morris was one, 
and he helped greatly to get powder and fire-arms, to 
organize troops, and to fortify the Delaware. 

While still serving on the Committee of Safety, 
the Assembly elected him to Congress. Here his 
knowledge of commerce and navigation made him an 
important member. America needed ships, and Con- 
gress decided to launch five as a regular navy. 
Morris was put on the naval committee. He also 
received charge of procuring the cannon, muskets, 
and ammunition for both the navy and the army. 

Mone)^, money, money was needed for all these 



ROBERT MORRIS 41 

things. Soon Congress fixed upon Morris as the man 
to get the needed cash. This proved to be his great 
work. No other man in Congress, probably, could 
have done it so well, and he was not relieved from it 
while the war lasted. 

Still Morris hoped that England and America 
would not separate, and that this fighting in the 
North would not lead to a great conflict. When 
the Declaration of Independence came up in Con- 
gress, Morris and three out of the six othe^r 
Pennsylvania delegates voted against it. On the 
famous Fourth of July when the Declaration was 
finally ajjproved, Morris, knowing it would pass, 
stayed away from Congress. The other Penn- 
sylvania delegates who voted against it lost their 
l)laces, but Pennsylvania could not spare Robert 
Morris. He signed the Declaration a month later, 
though he had not ceased to think that the action of 
Congress was hasty. 

Congress Flees from Philadelphia. — When Washing- 
ton, that same year, retreated from the British across 
New Jersey, Congress in a fright fled to Baltimore, 
and left Morris, with two other men, in charge of its 
affairs. Howe's soldiers had taken post in Burling- 
ton, and would soon, it was said, appear at Cooper's 
Ferry (now Camden). Many of the citizens left 
Philadelphia. The two men who were to assist Morris 
did not appear, and the whole weight of business fell 
upon him. 



42 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Robert Morris stuck faithfully to his post. The 
forts below the city needed to be finished. Obstruc- 
tions were to be put in the river. The ships of the 
new national navj still lay unfinished in the Kensing- 
ton yards, Morris set the citizens who remained to 
help the workmen finish the ship-building. He re- 
moved great stores of needed articles from Philadel- 
l^hia to Lancaster and other towns, to put them out 
of the enemy's way. In every way possible this faith- 
ful merchant carried forward the work which Con- 
gress had committed to his care. He was really the 
ruler of the city. 

Morris Keeps the Army Together, — While all was 
bustle and hurry in Philadelphia that December, and 
Lord flowe waited patiently for the Delaware to 
freeze, so that his army might cross, Washington 
made his Christmas present to the British by his at- 
tack at Trenton. This surprised the English com- 
mander, but did not greatly trouble him. "When the 
New Year comes, and the time of the soldiers is up, 
Washington's unpaid army will melt away," thought 
Howe. 

Morris thought so too. *'You might as well at- 
tempt to stop the wind from blowing as stop them 
from going," he wrote to John Hancock, who was 
President of CVmgress, Washington, if any one could 
prevent them, would be able to do so; but even he 
could not attempt the impossible. By promising ten 
dollars extra pay to each soldier, he prevailed on his 



EGBERT MORRIS 



43 



men to stay six weeks longer ; but they must have the 
ten dollars immediately. On the last day of the year 
Washington sent to Morris for the money. 

Early in the morning Robert Morris was astir. 
He went to the houses of his friends, mostly Quakers, 
and roused them 
from their beds. 
' ' What news so 
early, R o b e rt f " 
said one of these. 
''General Washing- 
ton needs hard 
money, and I must 
send it to him at 
once," replied Mor- 
ris; "I would like 
you to lend me so 
much," and he men- 
tioned the amount. 
"But what is thy 
security, Robert, for 

this large sum!" "My word and my honor," was 
the answer. "Thou shalt have it." One man's word 
and honor meant much just then to the American 
cause. Shortly after sunrise 50,000 dollars went to 
the commander-in-chief. It put fresh sjiirit into 
AVashington's army. They crept around the rear of 
the British and defeated part of their forces at Prince- 
ton. Hope sprang up again in patriotic hearts. 




COLI.ECTIXG MONEY FOR THE TROOPS. 



44 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Other Services of Morris.— After the battle of the 
Brandj^wine there remained no hope of saving Phila- 
delphia. The Congress, which had returned from Bal- 
timore, fled once more, this time to Lancaster, then to 
York. The Liberty Bell was hauled away to Allen- 
town, where it was hidden under the floor of a church. 
General Lafayette, who had been wounded, was taken 
to Bethlehem. To Lancaster went the State officials, 
and Morris travelled thither also. Now John Han- 
cock announced that he must give up the presidency 
of Congress, and Robert Morris was asked to take the 
office, but declined, as it would leave him no time at 
all for his i)rivate business. 

Washington with his army lay encamped at Valley 
Forge. Congress appointed Morris, with two others, 
to visit Washington and to ask him to send out a 
winter expedition against the British in Philadelphia. 
Morris and his committee went to Valley Forge; but 
no one who saw the freezing, starving men lying in 
their miserable huts could expect such an army to do 
more than to remain in camp and watch that the 
British did not surprise them. After Morris had 
made his report. Congress said nothing more that 
winter about marching out the Continentals to attack 
the well-fed British in their comfortable city quarters 
defended by ten forts. 

Again, a couple of years afterward, Robert Morris 
came to the help of Washington in an emergency. 
The troops sorely needed lead. Pipes and eave- 



ROBERT MORRIS 45 

spouts of that metal had all been melted, and lead 
was quoted at fifty cents a pound. Judge Peters, who 
lived at Sweet-Briar Mansion, had been asked by the 
General to get bullets for the army, but he knew not 
where to find what he needed. While troubled over 
this matter, Judge Peters went to a dinner-party 
where he met Kobert Morris. "Why so gloomy?" 
asked Morris. When the Judge explained his wor- 
riment, Morris joyfully exclaimed that the problem 
could be solved. One of his ships had just come in 
with ninety tons of lead in her hold. The two friends 
at once left the party and soon had a hundred men 
at work making cartridges. In the morning a large 
supply of ammunition was ready for Washington. 

Continental Money. Morris the Financier. — While 
Washington struggled with the problems of his army, 
Congress struggled with the money question, and 
made a bad failure. "Continental money," as it was 
called — worthless paper without any coin in the 
treasury to back it up — went down, down, down in 
the estimation of the people. The less it was worth, 
the more Congress issued, until a hat cost 400 dollars 
and shoes 125 dollars. In Philadelphia a number of 
disgusted men formed a parade. They wore the bills 
as decorations on their hats, and led along a miser- 
able dog coated with tar and stuck over with the 
"Continental money." It seemed that the cause of 
liberty would fail for lack of cash. 

It was necessary to do something. The old Treas- 



46 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ury Board of Congress must go out of existence, and 
some one able man must be given control of financial 
matters. Some persons wished Alexander Hamilton 
to take this post; but Hamilton himself proposed 
Morris, and Congress by a unanimous vote made 
Morris Superintendent of Finance. Until the end of 
the war, Morris had power to appoint and dismiss all 
employees in his own department, and could even fix 
their salaries. No one else connected witli the gov- 
ernment possessed such extensive powers, but Con- 
gress was willing to do much in order to keep the 
services of such a man. "My hand and my heart 
shall be with you," wrote Washington to him. 

One of Morris's first great opportunities in his 
new office came when Washington, who had been 
threatening the British near New York, decided to 
transfer his army southward to blockade Cornwallis. 
Morris paid a visit to the American camp and talked 
over with, the General the possibility of the project. 

Soon Washington with his tattered troops, ac- 
companied by the French regiments in their bright 
uniforms, appeared in Philadelphia. Morris rode out 
to meet them, invited Washington, Count de Rocham- 
beau the French commander, and all the prominent 
generals, to a fine dinner at his house on Market 
Street, then placed the house at their disposal as 
headquarters. 

By tremendous exertions, Morris managed to pro- 
vision the army during its march, to Yorktown and 



ROBERT MORRIS 47 

during the long siege tliat followed. He borrowed 
money which the Count de Rochambeau had brought 
to pay his own soldiers and gave it to the Americans. 
He advanced every shilling of his own money, and 
borrowed all he could get from his friends on his own 
credit. He secured flour from New York and Penn- 
sylvania, cattle from New England, rice and sugar 
from the South, and fed the troops who watched 
Cornwallis. At last Yorktown fell, and Morris saw 
the captured British flags passing through Philadel- 
phia streets to the State House, where they were pre- 
sented to Congress, 

Hard Money. The Bank of North America. — Mean- 
while Congress, not satisfied with giving Morris one 
responsible office, gave him another, superintendence 
of the navy. This enabled him to get money from 
foreign parts with greater ease. For two years every 
Continental ship was at Morris's call. The control 
of the navy aided him much when he came to establish 
a national bank. 

When Robert Morris took charge of the financial 
affairs of the United States, he saw at once that a 
national bank was absolutely necessary. Without it, 
the worthless Continental money could not be put 
aside. It would make a real union among the States 
in their money affairs. 

Morris called on the governors and legislatures 
of the various States, on all the army officers, and on 
business men in general to subscribe for the stock 



48 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

of the bank. No persons bought shares except a few 
of Morris's friends in Philadelphia. Even General 
Washington sent word that he was too poor to buy, 
that he had had to sell some of his land in Virginia to 
l^ay the taxes on the rest. There was no hope of get- 
ting money enough from Americans to start the bank. 

Fortunately, just at this time. Congress had suc- 
ceeded in getting France to send over some hard 
money. While Washington was pouring shot into 
Yorktown, the ship bearing the coin arrived at Boston. 
So many English ships were near the coast that it was 
unsafe for the ship to come to Philadelphia. Now 
the money must be gotten to Philadelphia, through a 
country which contained many English troops. 

Morris at once despatched two trustworthy men 
to hire teamsters and bring the treasure, whicli 
amounted to half a million dollars. The coins were 
packed in great oak boxes, with lids strongly nailed 
down. Each box weighed a ton. The big chests were 
set on the axle of a cart from which the body had 
been taken, and were fastened to the axle and tongue 
of the cart by iron straps welded tight by a black- 
smith. Four oxen, led by a horse, tugged each cart 
along. The carts journeyed by a secret way, guarded 
at dangerous points by parties of soldiers. Each 
teamster carried a musket and bayonet, so that he 
might fight if attacked. 

Nearly two months passed before Morris saw his 
two messengers again, but at last, one November day, 



EGBERT MORRIS 49 

the slow oxen dragged the treasure into Philadelphia. 
Half of the money was immediately used to start the 
bank. On the last day of the year 1781 Congress 
created the "Bank of North America," and in a week 
the bank began business on Chestnut Street west of 
Third. It is still at the same place, though more than 
130 years have passed; and all its officers and 
directors are very proud of its long honorable record. 

The First Mint, — Not only was there little gold or 
silver money in the country, but also what money 
there was held different values in dilferent States. 
All the coins then circulating were foreign. Some 
were English and some French, but Spanish dollars 
appeared most frequently among the people. The 
value of these dollars was reckoned in shillings. A 
silver dollar brought five shillings in Georgia, but 
across the line in South Carolina, it was worth thirty- 
two shillings. It was really the value of the shilling 
that differed in these States, for the dollar did not 
change. A North Carolina shilling had still another 
value, and that of Virginia was yet different. All this 
made endless confusion in money affairs. 

In the same month when the Bank of North 
America opened its doors, Morris reported to Con- 
gress that a mint should be established. "The ideas 
annexed to a pound, a shilling, and a penny, ' ' he said, 
"are almost as various as the States themselves." 
The new mint could coin money which would be of 
one kind and one standard. In 1782 Congress estab- 
4 



50 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

lislied the mint, and some money was coined, but be- 
cause of expense the keeping up of the mint soon 
ended for the time. 

Morris After the Revolution. — After the war ended, 
Morris felt that he could lay down the heavy burden 
of providing money for tlie government. The various 
States had done almost nothing to pay expenses dur- 
ing the last years of the Revolution, and only Mor- 
ris's appeals to foreign countries had enabled the 
nation to succeed. 

Morris, as a member of the Second Continental 
Congress, had voted for the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, but with no great expectation that they would 
prove satisfactory. The form of government which 
they established was too weak to command the re- 
spect of the States. A Federal Convention, com- 
posed of delegates from the various States, as- 
sembled in 1787, and Morris, as a Pennsylvania dele- 
gate, had the pleasure of nominating his friend Gen- 
eral Washington for presiding officer. 

The Convention framed the Constitution, which 
was ratified by the States, and Pennsylvania chose 
Robert Morris as one of her two Senators, While in 
the Senate he aided Alexander Hamilton, the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, to work out the first United 
States tariff bill, which brought in much revenue to put 
the government on a firm foundation. When his term 
ended, his friends asked him to take a second term, but 
Morris refused, for private affairs needed attention. 



ROBERT MORRIS 51 

The Homes of Morris. — The homes of Morris might 
have tempted any man to give up public life. There 
was a city house at Sixth and Market Streets, so large 
and comfortable that when Philadelphia in 1790 
became the capital of the United States, President 
Washington came to live in it as the most suitable 
mansion. The country house was still more desirable. 

Before the Revolution, Morris had bought a farm 
by the Schuylkill. There, on a hill (now called Lemon 
Hill), overlooking the beautiful river, he erected a 
stone mansion. His land stretched from the place 
where Girard Avenue Bridge stands to the point where 
the old Fairmount Water Works were later built. 

It was a beautiful estate, with all sorts of farm- 
buildings and several dwelling-houses upon it. The 
grounds around the mansion contained many kinds 
of beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers. In the hot- 
houses skilful gardeners raised osianges and pine- 
apples. There were the first icehouses which any 
home in the United States possessed. Robert Morris 
called his country-place ''The Hills," and said: "It 
is a spot as beautiful as most places in the world." 

Morris owned also a large farm nearly opposite 
Norristown, and a great tract of land, almost twenty 
times as large as the whole of Philadelphia is now, 
at the "Falls of the Delaware," opposite Trenton. 
Here he built another fine house and put up a dozen 
different kinds of mills and factories. A settlement 
grew up at the spot, and the town was called Morris- 



52 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ville. Rol)ert Morris hoped, but in vaiu, tliat the cap- 
ital of the United States would be established there, 
instead of on the Potomac. 

Congress, however, voted to put the new city of 
Washington in a spot which was then a wilderness, 
and to fix the capital at Philadelphia for ten years, 
to give opportunity to clear off the land along the 
Potomac. Morris then decided to build a great new 
house, the finest in the country. He bought an entire 
block in Philadelphia, between Seventh and Eighth, 
and Chestnut and AValnut Streets, and engaged as 
architect the French officer who later on laid out the 
city of Washington. 

Failure and Imprisonment. — Morris was regarded as 
the richest man in America. He himself did not know 
how much he was wortli, he was engaged in so many 
speculations. In the expectation that under the new 
government, emigrants would flock to America and 
land would greatly rise in value, he bought vast tracts 
in the ''backwoods" — Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia. 
At one time or another he owned nearly all of the 
western jmrt of New York. 

But Morris had been too hopeful. Land did not 
rise quickly in value. He and his partners could not 
sell their properties. They could not pay their debts. 
The great marble house on Chestnut Street swallowed 
up much money. It was never finished, never even 
completely roofed. Morris's land began to be seized 
because he could not pay the taxes upon it. 



ROBERT MORRIS 53 

At last came the crash. His debtors sent con- 
stables to serve writs upon him. To escape these, 
Morris shut himself up at "The Hills." There his 
only safety on occasional walks near his home was to 
look sharj^ly lest the constables come and find him. 
Almost every day some debtors personally visited 
the house, and with some of these Morris talked from 
the second-story windows. Several times officers 
stayed all night near the house so as to catch Morris 
if he should take an early morning walk. Others 
threatened to break in with axes and hammers. 

The unfinished marble house on Chestnut Street 
was sold; now the sheriff finally took possession of 
"The liills" and sent Morris to prison for debt. 
Almost all the furniture was seized; it was hard to 
keep enough enough to furnish a little cell. In the 
prison on Prune Street (now Locust) it seemed that 
Morris would end his days. By the laws of that time, 
a debtor could be imprisoned until he could pay his 
creditors — and how could Morris pay? 

One comfort remained to the great man in prison. 
Washington, though head of the nation, did not for- 
get his unfortunate friend. He could not liberate 
Morris, but after his term as President closed, he 
came to the prison and dined there with him. The 
same year, yellow fever broke out in the city. The 
disease swept through the prison. Mrs. Morris and 
her daughter continued to visit the prison every day, 
though at last they had to walk between piles of 



54 NOTED PEKNSYLVANIANS 

coffins to reach Morris's room. Fortunately the fever 
passed the Morris family by. 

At last after three and a half years, Congress 
passed an act by which, if the creditors were willing, 
a man could be released from prison on condition that 
he was declared bankrupt and not capable of owning 
jjrojjerty again. A debt of three millions of dollars 
stood against Morris, but in consequence of this act of 
Congress he finally regained his liberty. 

The former rich man was now penniless, reduced 
for support, at the age of nearly seventy, to the aid 
of his family and friends. One of his friends finally 
arranged with a company which had bought some 
land from Robert Morris that Mrs. Morris should 
receive a small income each year as long as she lived. 
This enabled her to keep her husband in comfort until 
he died a few j^ears later. When Lafayette revisited 
Philadelphia in 1824, Mrs. Morris still lived, and to 
her he paid his first visit. He, like Washington, had 
not forgotten his former friend. 

It is sad to think that a man who did so much for 
his country should at last have done so badly for 
himself. If we had had no Robert Morris there would 
probably have been no United States. His mind, his 
time, his private fortune, were at the service of 
America. There was no truer patriot. It was his 
confidence in the quick growth of the young nation 
that ruined him. Our land owes a great debt to the 
Financier of the Revolution. 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 



1745-1796. 

THE GENERAL OF THE BAYONET. 

" It is not in our power to command success, but it is in 
our power to produce a conviction to the world that we 
deserve it." 

Wayne Plays Soldier. — At the time when General 
Braddock was defeated near Fort Duquesne, there 
lived in Chester County a boy named Anthony Wa^me. 
Those were troubled times. 
Fierce war raged between the 
French and the English, and 
Indians came on their raids 
far into the east of Penn- 
sylvania. Anthony often saw 
frightened families who passed 
his home in their flight toward 
Philadelphia. 

Anthony's father had been 
an Indian fighter and an officer 
in the militia, and Anthony 
himself was a true chip of the old block. He attended 
a school kept by his uncle, who wrote to Mr. Wayne 
about Anthony: "One thing I am certain of, he will 
never make a scholar ; he will perhaps make a soldier ; 
he has already distracted the brains of two-thirds 

55 




ANTHONY WAYNE. 



56 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

of the boys imder my charge by rehearsals of battles. 
Some are laid up with broken heads and black eyes." 

On receiving this letter, Mr. Wayne told xVnthony 
that lessons must be learned, and the boy, like a. good 
soldier, obeyed his superior officer. He studied so 
hard that before two years had passed he had learned 
all which his uncle's school could teach him. Mr. 
Wayne, pleased by his son's diligence, then sent him 
to an academy in Philadelphia, where Anthony mas- 
tered figures so well as to fit himself for a surveyor. 

The Young Surveyor. — Just as Washington had 
done a few years before, Wayne went out into the 
wilderness to use his compass and chain in surveying 
and mapping the land. Through the day his work 
led him through the beautiful mountains, and at night 
he rolled himself in warm blankets and slept by a 
blazing fire. 

Through his surveying work, Wayne became ac- 
quainted with Benjamin Franklin. At the end of the 
French and Indian War, Franklin, with other per- 
sons, formed a company to send out settlers to Nova 
Scotia, which England had just gained from France 
through the war. 

Wayne, who then was but twenty years old, be- 
came manager of the affair. He surveyed the new 
lands, attended to the needs of the settlers, and trans- 
acted the business of the company, doing it so well 
that everyone wondered at his ability. After two 
years, however, the disputes between England and 



ANTHONY WAYNE 57 

her American colonies made Franklin's company de- 
cide to give up the undertaking. Wayne returned to 
Pennsylvania, married, and set up a tannery at his 
old home in Chester County. 

Beginning of the Revolution. — As the troubles of 

the colonies increased, Wayne became sure that the 
end would be war. He studied every book on military 
tactics that he could find, and devoted every spare 
day to drilling the young men of the neighborhood. 
So popular did he grow, that great numbers of men 
flocked to learn everything of warlike art that he 
could teach them. 

Wayne's hard work attracted notice by persons 
outside his home county, and after the famous day 
of Lexington and Concord, in 1775, he was made a 
mem])er of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety, 
which directed the preparations of the colony for 
war. Among his friends on the Committee were Ben- 
jamin Franklin and Robert Morris. 

Wayne continued his hard work, and soon was 
recommended by all the rest of the Committee to be 
colonel of one of the regiments of soldiers which were 
being raised by Pennsylvania. Congress agreed to 
this; so Anthony Wayne became Colonel Wayne of 
the Continental Army. 

The new colonel, now thirty years old, was a man 
worthy of commanding troops. He was tall, hand- 
some, and extremely careful to be well dressed, not 
because of especial vanity, but because he knew that 



58 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

a slovenly man is not apt to do good work. Colonel 
Wayne never spared his own work or that of his 
men, but he and Washington agreed that a neatly 
dressed soldier was worth two of rough appearance. 

With his Pennsylvania soldiers, Colonel Wayne 
took part in the Canada campaign, and did some 
hard fighting. Then he was sent to take charge of 
the fort at Ticonderoga, which Ethan Allen had cap- 
tured ''in the name of the great Jehovah and the Con- 
tinental Congress," This post was not to Wayne's 
liking, although he was made a general at the time. 
Open fight, not garrison duty, suited him, and he 
begged leave to join Washington's army. 

Wayne Becomes a General. The Massacre of Paoli. — 
Wayne finally gained this permission, and came to 
Washington's headquarters at Morristown, in the 
hills of New Jersey. There General Wayne received 
command of eight Pennsylvania regiments. They 
were in rags, badly armed, and ignorant of their 
duties, but WajTie soon gave them knowledge and 
confidence. His great idea was to teach his men to 
depend on the bayonet and stand up to the British 
attack, instead of firing and running away. Until the 
Americans could learn this lesson, Wayne felt they 
could not hope to beat their enemy. 

When Washington marched south to keep Lord 
Howe from capturing Philadelphia, Wa>Tie went with 
him, and fought bravely at the battle of the Brandy- 
wine, although in the end the Americans were forced 



ANTHONY WAYNE 59 

to retreat. Washington then posted Wayne to watch 
the British and annoy them, in order to allow the rest 
of the army time to prepare for meeting the enemy 
again. 

Wayne believed that the British did not know his 
whereabouts, but a Tory disclosed the information, 
and a force twice as large as Wayne's set out to sur- 
13rise his camp. Stealthily the English crept upon 
the camp. Many of Wayne's soldiers were asleep 
until the cry "Up, men! the British are upon you!" 

More than sixty Americans were stabbed to death 
by the British bayonets ; this was called the Massacre 
of Paoli, from the place where it occurred. It was an 
unfortunate affair, though it was not Wayne's fault. 
He managed to march away most of his men in good 
order, and joined Washington again. 

The Battle of Germantown. Valley Forge. — At the 
battle of Germantown, which took place only two 
weeks later, Wayne's troops had a chance to make a 
bayonet attack upon the same soldiers who had rushed 
into their camp at Paoli. "They took ample ven- 
geance for that night's work," said Wayne. Lord 
Howe himself rode up as the British were being 
driven back, and called out: "For shame, light in- 
fantry; I never saw you retreat before!" but he could 
not check their flight. Wa>Tie was delighted to see his 
Pennsylvanians beat the British at their own style of 
fighting. 

In the thick fog of that early morning, however, 



60 NOTED PENNSYLVANIx\NS 

some of the Americans fired upon Wayne's men, 
thinking they were English, and made them retreat in 
their turn. This threw the patriot forces into dis^ 
order, the British advanced, and the battle was lost. 
Wayne did not complain or despair, as did others. 
''Upon the whole," he said, "it was a glorious day. I 
am confident that we shall give them a total defeat in 
the next action." There spoke the true soldier spirit. 

Before another battle, however, came the terrible 
winter at Valley Forge, where the miserable troops 
died by hundreds for want of proper clothing. 
Wayne did everything in his power to better the con- 
ditions of his men. Regularly he visited every hul 
in his encampment, but the pitiful sights he encoun- 
tered made him declare: "I would prefer to go into 
a battle myself every week rather than see my men 
suffer thus." He spent much of his own pay in buy- 
ing cloth for their needs. 

Wayne was too valuable to be allowed to stay in 
camp all the time. When the army needed supplies 
of food, Washington sent his trusty general on a 
foraging expedition to New Jersey. Wayne had a 
sharp brush with a British party that was out on the 
same errand, but, needless to say, he brought back 
the supplies. When Wayne had an errand to do, one 
could be sure that if it were at all possible, the errand 
would be well done. 

Battle of Monmouth. Capture of Stony Point. — The 
winter wore away at last, and again the Continental 



ANTHONY WAYNE 61 

army took the field. Lord Howe decided to. abandon 
Philadelphia. Washington followed him across New 
Jersey and caught up to his retreating columns. The 
British were in strong force, however, and fully pre- 
pared for battle. Should the Americans attack? 

Washington held a council with his generals. La- 
fayette and most of the others declared it would be 
well to avoid attacking such a strong force. It came 
the turn of Anthony Wayne. "What would you do, 
general!" said Washington. Wayne rose to his full 
height, and briefly but firmly answered, "Fight, sir!" 

He did fight, that scorching June day on the field 
of Monmouth! With their bayonets, his men drove 
back the English cavalry who tried to ride over them. 
Then, to save the day after General Charles Lee 
had traitorously ordered a retreat, Wayne was placed 
to keep off the British until Washington could bring 
back the rest of the army. 

To break Wayne's line came the best English 
troops, the grenadiers, chosen for their strength and 
bravery, but although they charged until some of them 
fell dead from mere heat and toil, they could not drive 
Wayne from his position. Their leader was killed, 
and they gave up the attempt. Washington, in writ- 
ing to Congress his report of the battle, mentioned 
by name no officer except Anthony Wayne, who surely 
richly deserved the honor. 

Wayne's next exploit was the most famous of all 
his daring deeds. Stony Point, on the Hudson, had 



62 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



been seized by the British. This would make it hard 
for the Americans on the opposite sides of the river 
to keep up communication. Washington wished to 




CAPTURE OF STONT POINT. 



capture the strong fort which the British had built at 
the Point. For such a task there was no better man 
than Wayne ; and Wayne was chosen. 



ANTHONY WAYNE 63 

After most careful and secret preparations, 
Wayne, with thirteen hundred men, made a bayonet 
attack on the fort at night. As the soldiers rushed 
toward the fort a bullet struck Wayne in the head. 
He fell, but cried ''March on!" and called to some of 
his men, "Help me into the fort. Let me die at the 
head of my column." In a few minutes the fort sur- 
rendered, and the joy of the soldiers was increased 
by finding that Wayne's hurt was not serious. The 
whole country now talked of the deed. Some of the 
envious officers in the army had called Wayne ''Mad 
Anthony" in spite, but now he was called by that 
name in admiration of his bravery. 

In the capture of the army of Cornwallis at York- 
town, Wayne took a part. We must remember that 
this surrender did not end the war, though it was the 
last great event before peace was declared. The 
brave general's work was not yet finished. He was 
despatched south to take Georgia out of British con- 
trol. There he fought with Indians as well as British, 
cooped the regulars up in Savannah, and finally forced 
them to sail away. The State of Georgia gave to 
Wayne a rice j^lantatiou in token of gratitude. 

Wayne in Ohio. His Death. — After the Eevolution 
it might have been thought that there would be peace, 
with no need to call again on "Mad Anthony," but, in 
the land which is now Ohio, the Indians, urged on by 
the British, continued to kill the settlers. General 
St. Clair led a force against the savages, but they sur- 



64 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

prised him and gave him a bad defeat. This was tlie 
greatest triumph of Indians over white men since the 
defeat of Braddock. 

There was great danger that the United States 
would lose the territory beyond the Ohio River. 
President Washington put Wayne into command of 
the army, and after a time spent in drilling his men, 
Wayne met the Indians in the battle of the Fallen 
Timbers, in Ohio, and entirely defeated them, under 
the very guns of a British fort, whose commander did 
not dare to give the Indians any assistance. After 
this victory the British agreed to abandon the forts 
on American territory which they had been defiantly 
holding ever since the close of the Revolution. 

Wayne made a treaty of peace with the Indians 
which was kept for fifteen years — a long while for 
such treaties to last. As he returned to Philadelphia, 
the cavalry troops of the city met him as a guard of 
honor. When he crossed the ferry over the Schuylkill 
at Market Street, a salute of fifteen cannon was fired, 
and the bells of the city rang. The people crowded 
the sidewalks and shouted for joy to see their brave 
general. Congress voted to Wayne its thanks. The 
same year, however, he died, and his body now rests 
in St. David's Churchyard at Radnor.^ 

While we admire and celebrate the bravery of 

' Wayne County in Pennsylvania is named after the liero, and 
Fort Wayne in Indiana is near the spot of the battle of the Fallen 
Timbers. 



ANTHONY WAYNE 65 

Wayne, it is well to remember that the honors which 
came to him were really earned by his hard work. 
The soldiers entrusted to his command were mostly 
untrained when he received them, and needed diligent 
instruction and constant practice to make them good 
troops. The glory of the battles he fought depended 
on the wearisome work of drilling men for months and 
years previously. Mere personal bravery on An- 
thony Wayne's part could not have brought about the 
results he achieved. 



JOHN BARRY, 

1739-1803. 

HERO OF OUR INFANT NAVY. 

The First Captain of Our Navy. — A few years before 
the treaty of peace which ended the French and In- 
dian War, a fifteen-year-old Irish boy ran away from 

home and came to America to 
seek his fortune. He became 
a sailor on the ships of vari- 
ous Philadelphia merchants. 
He was tall, strong, capable, 
and trustworthy. With such 
advantages of person and 
character, it is not surprising 
that the merchant who em- 
joHN BARRY. ployed John Barry soon made 

him captain of a small vessel 
which traded with the West Indies. 

For ten years Captain Barry held command of 
various trading vessels. At last he became com- 
mander of one of the finest ships which Philadelphia 
sent out. One October day he returned from a voy- 
age to England. It was his last voyage for awhile as 
a merchant sailor. That very day the Continental 
Congress resolved to fit out two armed cruisers to 
capture vessels bringing supplies to the British army 

66 




JOHl^ BARRY 67 

in Boston. In December they were ready, and Con- 
gress made Barry captain of the larger one, the Lex- 
ington. He had the honor of being the first captain 
in our infant American navy. 

In April, 1776, the Lexington sailed out into the 
ocean, and in a few days Barry returned with an 
English war-vessel, the first prize brought in by the 
Continental navy. For the rest of that year he con- 
tinued to hover around the entrance of Delaware 
Bay, hindering the British from getting supplies, pro- 
tecting the American ships which passed up and down 
the river, and capturing a vessel now and then from 
the enemy. Had Barry himself been caught, it is 
probable he would have been hung as a pirate. 

Barry's New Command. Operations on the Dela- 
ware. — Congress now reorganized the Continental 
navy, and built thirteen new vessels, one for each 
of the States. Barry received command of a ship 
carrying twice as many guns as the Lexington. The 
fleet, however, was of Httle use just at this time. The 
British had captured New York, and Washington re- 
treated across New Jersey. The fleet was kept near 
Philadelphia to prevent, if possible, the entrance of 
the British into that city. 

As soon as he knew that his services would not be 
needed for cruising, Captain Barry raised a company 
of Philadelphia volunteers for land service and joined 
Washington on the west side of the Delaware. He 
and his men helped in rowing the boats across the icy 



68 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

river ou that night when the Hessians were surprised 
at Trenton. 

Philadelphia was saved for almost a year. When, 
after the battle of the Brandywine, the British at 
last entered the city, some of the American vessels 
went np the river and Barry was made commodore of 
those that remained below the town. Here, for six 
weeks, together with the fleet which Pennsylvania 
fitted out, he kept the English vessels from coming up 
the Delaware. When the Hessians attacked the fort 
at Red Bank, Barry had a sharp fight on the river 
with the British, who lost two ships. 

At last the English proved too powerful for the 
Americans. Fort Mifflin had to be abandoned. The 
patriot vessels were forced to retire and leave the fort 
at Red Bank to its fate. Only one safe place for the 
American ships remained; that was the upper Dela- 
ware. 

The British were watching at Philadelphia to op- 
pose such an attempt; so the Americans decided to try 
it at night. The Pennsylvania fleet passed safely, but 
when Barry, with his Continental vessels, tried to 
pass on the following night, the British were more 
wide-awake. Barry, with three or four of his vessels, 
got through ; the rest were burned by their crews to 
prevent their capture by the English. 

It now seemed that the remaining ships were in 
great danger from the English. Commodore Barry 
prepared to defend the only two large vessels which 



JOHN BARRY 69 

he had, and fitted out some smaller boats to aid in this. 
"Don't give up the ship!" was his motto, as well as 
that of Captain Lawrence. In spite of his prepara- 
tions, however, he was ordered by Congress to sink 
the ships just below Bordentown, and he unwillingly 
did so. 

The Battle of the Kegs. — Now Barry was a com- 
mander without a command. His brain could not 
stay idle, and he was unhappy unless devising 
schemes to annoy the British. An inventor proposed 
to send down the river kegs filled with powder and 
arranged so as to explode upon touching any object, 
in hope that they would blow up some of the English 
ships. Barry heartily approved the plan. 

One winter morning two youngsters at Philadel- 
phia noticed a keg floating in the river. They rowed 
out to it, but when their boat jostled the keg, it burst 
and killed the poor boys. The next day several more 
such kegs made their appearance. The British were 
greatly seared at the "rebel device." All the ships 
began to fire at the kegs and aimed at even every 
drifting log. They continued to spend their ammu- 
nition until all the terrible kegs had been shattered to 
pieces. 

Even the friends of the British could not help 
laughing at the fright which the English displayed. 
The affair was called the Battle of the Kegs. It was 
a comic occurrence; but it made the enemy feel that 
the Americans above the city were active, and per- 



70 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

haps kept General Howe from thinking about 
attacking Valley Forge. 

Barry's Row-Boats, The " Raleigh." — There were 
better ways in which Barry could annoy the invaders. 
His vessels had been sunk, but row-boats remained. 
''Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
might," thought the brave Irishman. One February 
night he came down the Delaware with a couple of 
boats. They slipped past the British fleet at Phila- 
delphia with no damage, although a few muskets were 
fired at them. 

When day broke, Barry was far past the city. He 
was joined by three more such boats. His plan was 
to cut off some of the craft which were bringing 
British supplies up the river. Soon he saw a schooner, 
carrying several cannon and escorting two vessels 
loaded with supplies. Barry and his men rowed 
straight for them, and sprang aboard the schooner 
so fiercely that the terrified English fled from the 
deck and the three vessels were taken without any 
bloodshed. A number of English warships were 
coming up the river, however, and Barry hastily 
burned the supply-vessels, then fled with the schooner. 
British men-of-war also appeared ahead. He ran the 
vessel ashore, took out some of the cargo, and left her. 

For Barry's gallant service he now was made com- 
mander of the frigate Raleigh, which was lying at 
Boston. Her former captain had just been removed 
for cowardice ; but Congress knew that Barry would 



JOHN BARRY 71 

never be guilty of that fault. Barry's cruise in the 
Raleigh was short. The very day he sailed from 
Boston, two British ships caught sight of the frigate. 
For two days he dodged them, but at last had to fight. 
One ship was much larger than the Raleigh, the other 
of about the same size. After a hot conflict, Barry 
ran his vessel ashore on an island off the Maine coast. 
With most of his crew, he escaped to land. 

The Famous " Alliance." — Barry next received one 
of the swiftest and best ships which the American 
navy possessed, the Alliance. In the Alliance he car- 
ried to France Colonel Laurens, our special envoy to 
that country. On his return voyage, two British ships 
attacked him. They were not large vessels, but they 
had one great advantage. It was a calm day. The 
Alliance lay like a log upon the water. The smaller 
English vessels put out sweeps or great oars, and 
crept to such position that the American guns could 
not bear upon them. 

Captain Barry was wounded in the shoulder, but 
stayed on deck until nearly fainting from loss of blood. 
The flag of the Alliance was shot down, but the 
patriots had no thought of surrender. At last the 
wished-for breeze sprang up, and as soon as the Alli- 
ance could move freely, her broadsides made the Eng- 
lish quickly give up the fight. 

The captain of one British vessel had been killed. 
The other captain came aboard the Alliance to sur- 
render his sword. Barry received the sword while 



72 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

sitting in a chair. He then returned it, saying, "You 
have merited it, sir. Your King ought to give you a 
better ship. Here is my cabin at your service. Use it 
as your own." The brave man could appreciate 
bravery in others. 




THE OTHER CAPTAIN CAME ABOARD THE " ALLIANCE*' TO SURRENDER HIS 8WOKD. 

Through the last years of the war the Alliance 
kept in constant activity, capturing prizes, carrying 
money for the use of Congress, watching over the 
safety of American merchant vessels. It was the 
Alliance that fought the last naval battle of the war, 
and fought it after the terms of peace had been agreed 



JOHN BARRY 73 

upon. The terms of the Peace of Paris, which closed 
the War, were decided in November, 1782 ; but it was 
nearly a year later when England and America finally 
signed the treaty. 

In the spring of 1783 the Alliance left Havana, 
where Barry had come in order to carry back to the 
United States a large sum in coin. With the Alliance 
was a much smaller Continental ship, also carrying 
money. Off the Florida coast three British men-of- 
war chased them. The smaller American ship was no 
swift sailer. In order to give her a chance to escape, 
Barry ran the Alliance between her and the foremost 
English cruiser. A sharp conflict followed, which 
obliged the British vessel to sheer off. The other 
vessels took no part in the fight. 

The Spanish dollars did not get to their port with- 
out more adventure. Barry aimed to come into Phila- 
delphia, but just outside the Capes two more British 
ships suddenly loomed out of a fog. By her swiftness 
the Alliance got clear, but it was too dangerous to try 
again the passage of the Delaware. Barry succeeded 
in arriving safe at Newport. 

This was the very end of the war. That month 
Congress ordered the recall of all war-vessels that 
were cruising about, and the next month (April) 
"Washington issued to the army his famous Farewell 
Address. 

The Alliance was sold, aud became a merchant ves- 
sel. Her brave commander rested for awhile at his 



74 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Philadelphia home, then returned to his peaceful voy- 
ages on behalf of the merchants whom he had formerly 
served so well. He had not yet, however, rendered 
the last of his public services. 

Barry and the Constitution. — The Confederation was 
not a good form of government for the country. The 
Convention of 1787 decided that a new government 
was necessary, and framed our present Constitution. 
This was to go into effect when nine States had agreed 
to it. The country was in a dangerous state for lack 
of a strong government, yet many did not approve of 
the new Constitution. 

The Pennsylvania Assembly (Legislature) debated 
the question of calling a State convention to decide 
whether to approve the Constitution. Those opposed 
to the Constitution asked for delay until the afternoon 
of the same day. When afternoon came, so many of 
those members were absent that no business could be 
done. The Assembly sent for the absent members, 
but they refused to appear. 

''If there is no way of compelling those who have 
deserted from duty to perform it, then God be mer- 
ciful to us," said the Speaker. But there was a way, 
and Barry was the man who found it. Two members 
were needed to make a quorum. The Assembly met 
next day, but no quorum was present. Suddenly a 
crowd of men, led by John Barry, rushed into the hall, 
dragging two of the runaway members. 

The reluctant arrivals asked to be allowed to go, 



JOHN BARRY 75 

but the Speaker replied: '^ The House does not ap- 
prove of rough conduct, but since you are now here, 
the business of the State cannot be accomplished if 
any one is suffered to withdraw. ' ' One of them tried 
to rush out again, but Barry and his friends held him 
back. The Assembly then began its business and 
fixed the date of the State Convention. The people 
cheered, and the bells of Christ Church rang out. 
When the Pennsylvania Convention met, it approved 
of the Constitution. Barry had done his part to give 
the nation a strong government. 

Barry as Commander of the Navy. — For ten years 
after the end of the Revolution, the United States was 
a nation without a navy. But, in 1794, the outrages of 
Algerine pirates, the impressment of our seamen by 
England, and the capture of our vessels by France 
stirred Congress to order the building of several war- 
vessels. Barry became commander of the new navy. 

In order to hasten the building of the ships, each 
was begun in a different city. The vessel at Phila- 
delphia was given to Barry's command, and he super- 
intended the work upon her. Congress did not hurry 
matters, however, and the hull was not launched until 
England renewed her injuries to our commerce. 

At last the ship, which had been on the stocks for 
three years, glided into the water — the first vessel of 
our new navy. An immense crowd rejoiced at the 
sight of the powerful and swift frigate. She was 
christened the United States. All saw in her the 



76 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

sign of freedom from English insult. The United States 
lay in the Delaware for a year before being completely 
fitted out. The famous Paul Revere cast some of her 
cannon. When she was in war-trim, matters changed, 
and it was against the French that she was sent. 

Commodore Barry, with the whole United States 
navy, was ordered by President Adams to spend the 
winter of 1798 in cruising about the West Indies. He 
was to capture or destroy all French armed vessels. 
On board his ship were several young officers who be- 
came famous in the War of 1812. Most noted were 
Lieut. Charles Stewart, who later commanded the old 
Constitution, and young Stephen Decatur, who de- 
stroyed the Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor. 

Barry's fleet did good service. It protected our 
commerce with the West Indies, which then was exten- 
sive. It captured many French privateers and retook 
several American vessels held as prizes. When Jef- 
ferson became President his ideas differed from those 
of Adams. He wished to do without a navy, if i)os- 
sible. In 1801 he called back our fleet. 

This ended Commodore Barry's service upon the 
sea. For two years more, failing in health, he lived 
in Philadelphia. At his death, his body was laid in the 
churchyard of St. Mary's, on Fourth Street below 
Walnut. His faithfulness to duty, his activity and 
courage, should make the gallant Commodore one of 
the foremost figures in our early naval history. He 
has often been called the father of the American navy. 



THE ALLIANCE. 

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 

Those were the days wherein we flung defiance 

Unto a tyrant monarch and his henchmen. 
We asked for friendship, i'rance gave her compliance, 
And hence we called our vessel the Alliance, 
In honor of the noble-hearted Frenchmen. 

The ocean cormorants fled before her path.; 

Her wing, descried afar, was fearful omen; 
Full oft her desolating vengeance hath, 
In the gi'eat tempest of her iron wrath, 

Sent a wild shudder through the hearts of foemen. 

Though she awhile the doubtful Landais* bore. 

It was her glorious privilege to cari-y 
The pennant of Paul Jones, the Commodore, 
The pride and terror of the sea and shore, 

And his, the hardy and intrepid Bany. 

And when the war was o'er she laid aside 

The latest vestige of the past commotion. 
To all the winds of commerce, far and wide. 
Shook out her sails for other realms untried, 

And brought home treasure from the farthest ocean. 



* The French captain Landais, in command of the Alliance, accom- 
panied Paul Jones in the " Bonhomme Richard" when Jones had his 
famous fight with the " Scrapis." In this conflict Landais acted the part 
of either a coward or a traitor. 



STEPHEN GIRARD. 



1750-1831. 
THE STERN BENEFACTOR. 

Girard's Boyhood. — Near the city of Bordeaux in 
France lived a sea-captain named Girard. He had a 
Httle son named Stephen. One day, while Stephen 
was playing about the room, some one threw an oyster- 
shell into the open fire. It 
cracked; a piece flew across 
the room and put out Stephen's 
eye. The other boys of the 
neighborhood often made fun 
of the one-eyed lad. This and 
the sternness of his parents 
soured Stephen's disposition. 
He became sullen and gloomy. 
At last Stephen could no 
longer bear to live at home. "When but fourteen he 
took a place as cabin-boy on a vessel, and for nearly 
ten years led the life of a sailor or mate. During 
this time he studied navigation, and finally, though 
young, became captain. 

He sailed to the West Indies, then to New York, 
where he entered into partnership with an American 
merchant. Girard made voyages to the West Indies 
for his firm. It was a dangerous time for American 

78 




STEPHEN GIRARD. 



STEPHEN GIRARD 79 

ships to be upon the ocean. The Revolution had be- 
gun, and English vessels were thick along the coast. 

Girard Settles in. Philadelphia. — One night in the 
spring of 1776 Stephen Girard 's craft was overtaken 
by a storm. The ship drove before the gale until 
Girard heard waves upon the shore. He cast anchor 
and waited for morning. When light appeared, the 
fog was so thick that no one could tell just where the 
ship was. 

Girard fired a cannon as a signal. Soon a pilot- 
boat appeared out of the mist. ^' Where are we?" 
asked the captain. ''You are in Delaware Bay," 
answered the pilot. ' ' I wish to go to New York, ' ' said 
Girard. "It can't be done," was the reply. "The 
British ships are swarming outside. You escaped 
them because of the fog ; but as soon as it disappears 
they will see and capture you. You must sail up to 
Philadelphia." 

Stephen Girard saw that the advice was good. He 
went to Philadelphia, sold his vessel, and made his 
home in the city. On Water Street he set up a small 
store. He had no friends, and could speak English 
but poorly. Still his business ability was so great 
that everything he touched seemed to turn to gold; 
and he was willing to engage in all affairs that offered 
a profit. 

In a few years Girard owned several vessels, and 
by 1790 they had made him a rich man. Then he 
began to build a splendid fleet of ships. They were 



80 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

the pride of Philadelphia. Every ocean saw the 
Girard fleet. All persons talked of Girard's good 
luck, for he seldom lost a vessel; but the merchant 
himself said: ''Good luck means that I know my 
business." 

Once, when the United States was again troubled 
by the British, a ship owned by Girard was returning 
from a voyage to the East. She carried a rich cargo. 
In Delaware Bay, almost within sight of home, an 
English war-vessel captured her. Girard heard of 
this misfortune almost immediately. 

Instead of sitting down to bewail his loss, he set 
off for the place where the vessels lay. He drove a 
bargain with the British captain, and bought back his 
ship for $180,000. Then he brought her to Philadel- 
phia and sold the cargo for $500,000. It was hard to 
beat Stephen Girard. 

The Yellow Fever. — In the summer of 1793, a 
plague of yellow fever spread through Philadelphia. 
It was a deadly disease, and swept away whole fami- 
lies. Eleven persons died in one house within a day. 
Philadelphia was then the largest and busiest city of 
the nation, but at the coming of the plague business 
stopped. Congress moved to Germantown, President 
Washington and his cabinet left the city, and most of 
the people followed their example. 

One out of every five who stayed in Philadelphia 
died. Churches and schools closed their doors. Half 
the houses stood empty. Those who ventured to walk 



STEPHEN GIRARD 



81 



abroad held over their nostrils handkerchiefs soaked 
in vinegar, and avoided shaking hands with any one. 
Grass grew high in the main streets. Carts passed 
through the streets 
to carry the bodies of 
those who had per- 
ished, and the drivers 
c r i e d at intervals, 
' ' Bring out your 
dead!" 

The disease itself 
was horrible and 
filthy. The sick were 
gathered into liospi- 
tals, but these, unlike 
the hospitals of to- 
day, added to their 
misery. They were 
mere barns where 
patients lay crowded 
together in a disgust- 
ing condition, without 
proper care. Nurses 
could not be secured 
even at high wages, for to nurse the victims of yellow 
fever meant almost certain death. 

The maj^or asked for volunteers to form a Com- 
mittee of Safety, which should do whatever seemed 
possible for the health of the city. Only twelve men 
6 




CARRYINQ YELLOW FEVER PATIENT TO 
THE HOSPITAL. 



82 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

answered the call; one of them was Stephen Girard. 
Two of the twelve offered to serve at the hospital. 
These two heroes were Girard and Peter Helm. Both 
had wealth, and might have fled from the city to live in 
safety and comfort elsewhere; but they nobly chose 
to help their fellow-men. 

Of these two brave men, Girard was the one who 
took the post of greatest danger — the interior of the 
hospital. There, for two months, he spent a large 
part of the day, nursing the patients. No money 
could pay for such services, and Girard wished no 
return. Moreover, this hero went with his own car- 
riage to the houses where the sick lay, entered, car- 
ried out the patients in his arms, and drove with them 
to the hospital. At last cold weather broke the fever, 
and the citizens who had fled returned. Business 
once more began, and with reviving business the for- 
tune of Stephen Girard increased. 

Girard as a Banker. — In 1811 the charter of the 
Bank of the United States ran out. The Bank had 
been chartered for twenty years only ; now Congress 
refused to give it a new charter. Girard already 
owned much of the stock; now he bought it all, se- 
cured the same building, and in 1812 opened ''The 
Bank of Stephen Girard." The building still stands, 
on Third Street below Market. Just as Eobert Morris 
was the financier of the Eevolution, so Stephen Girard 
was the financier of the War of 1812. Without Girard 
and his Bank, the war could not have been maintained. 



STEPHEN GIRARD 83 

We should have had to make a disgraceful peace with 
England. 

In the year 1814 the British entered Washington 
and burned the capitol. The prospect for the Ameri- 
cans was gloomy. The army and navy could not get 
sufficient supplies. The government had no money, 
and apparently could secure no more. Many persons 
in New England were trying to induce these States to 
secede from the Union. 

The government needed five million dollars. It 
offered very high interest, but almost no one was will- 
ing to lend money. The last day for subscribing to 
the loan came, and only twenty thousand dollars, a 
pitiful sum, had been paid in. What could be done? 
"I will subscribe the rest of the five millions!" said 
Girard ; and he did so. He staked his whole fortune 
on his trust in the United States. Few other men 
would have done the same. 

Americans in general did not trust the govern- 
ment. At the end of the war the credit of the govern- 
ment was poor. Its notes were considered as not 
much better than the old Continental money. Those 
who received payment from the United States refused 
to take its bills, and demanded hard cash. The gov- 
ernment could not get coin enough. 

Girard came again to the rescue. "I will take 
treasury bills for all money due to me," said he ; ''or, 
if it is more convenient to the United States, you need 
not pay me until times improve." Girard 's example 



84 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

shamed the other merchants ; they accepted the paper 
money of the government, and all went well. 

Character of Girard. His Death and Will. — In spite 
of Girard 's free public use of his money, few persons 
admired or liked him. His features were plain, his 
speech was broken, and his manner was rough. He 
lived his life apart from other men. He had no chil- 
dren, and his wife became insane. In work lay his 
greatest pleasure. "When I rise in the morning," he 
said, *'my only effort is to labor so hard, that when 
night comes I may sleej) soundly." 

Girard refused to give money or food to those who 
begged at his door or on the street. Pie treated his 
clerks with harshness, and never paid them a penny 
over their set wages. Yet he was kind to his dog and 
horse ; children loved him, and he showered favors on 
his relatives. 

At the age of eighty Girard was the richest man in 
America. Now he considered what use he could make 
of his fortune. "No man," he observed, "shall be a 
gentleman on my money." He determined that most 
of his wealth, about six million dollars, should be 
given to establish a college for orphan boys. He em- 
ployed a celebrated lawyer to draw up his will. It 
was one of the most remarkable ever made. 

The same year Girard was knocked down by a car- 
riage. His head and face were cut and bruised; but 
Girard wasted no time in pitying himself. "Go on, 
doctor, I am an old sailor; I can bear a great deal," 



STEPHEN GIRARD 85 

said lie to the physician who dressed his wound. He 
lived nearly three years after his will had been made. 

At Girard's death there was a scene of wild ex- 
citement. His relatives and others rushed to his 
house, entered it, drank his wines, and searched for 
money. When the lawyer read the will, the relatives 
felt bitterly disappointed. They tried to break the 
will ; but it was expressed in such clear language that 
this could not be done. 

Girard's Charities. — The splendid buildings known 
as Girard College now shelter and educate sixteen 
hundred boys. No boy can be admitted unless he has 
lost a parent. Within the walls of the college such a 
boy receives a complete education under the best of 
care. "I would have them taught facts and things 
rather than words and signs," wrote Girard. No 
better use of money could be made. 

Beside this great charity, Girard left half a mil- 
lion dollars to improve the water-front of the city. 
His fleet had helped to increase the importance of 
Philadelphia as a seaport; but he saw that the com- 
pletion of the Erie Canal, which had taken place six 
years before, would give New York a great advantage. 
Therefore he gave this large sum for building and 
repairing wharves, clearing and deepening the chan- 
nel, and improving the streets along the river. One 
of our finest streets bears the name of Girard Avenue, 
but it would be as fitting to call Delaware Avenue by 
that name. 



86 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Girard did not forget the schools of his city. For 
their benefit he left ten thousand dollars. The in- 
terest of this is still divided among the public schools 
which lie in the old city — that part of Philadelphia 
which is between Vine and South Streets. This money 
buys books for their libraries, and may be employed 
in other ways desirable for their use. Another con- 
siderable sum was provided for building a school in 
Passyunk Township, near Girard 's country house. 
The school was finally turned over to the Board of 
Education, is still called the Girard School, and is one 
of the largest in the city. It stands at Eighteenth 
Street and Passyunk Avenue. 

Many other charitable or necessary objects were 
remembered by the famous will. $300,000 were left 
to the State for the improvement of canals. Knowing 
the terrible loss from fire among frame buildings, 
Girard provided money for doing away with all such 
buildings in the city. The government of Philadel- 
phia long ago forbade any more such structures being 
erected, but even to this day any one who pulls down 
an old frame house or building receives a sum- of 
money from the estate of Stephen Girard. 



ROBERT FULTON. 

1765-1815. 

THE SUCCESSFUL STEAMBOAT-MAKER. 

" There is nothing impossible." 

The Boy with Ideas. — In the year of the Stamp Act 
Robert Fulton was born on a farm at Little Britain, 
Lancaster County. Like so many other celebrated 
men of our State, he was of 
Scotch-Irish race. While Robert 
was yet a baby, Mr. Fulton sold 
his farm and moved to the town 
of Lancaster, where, a couple of 
years later, he died, 

Mrs. Fulton had little money to 
support her five children, and her 
work left little spare time. Still, 
she managed to teach Robert at 
home, so that he could read, write and '^ cipher." At 
the age of eight he began to attend school, and made 
fair progress, but showed more interest in drawing 
and the use of tools than in his school studies. Mrs. 
Fulton remarked to his teacher that Robert was not 
doing so well as he might. The teacher replied, ''I've 
done my best, but Robert says his head is so full of 
new ideas that there is no room in it for learning 
from dusty books," 

87 




ROBERT FULTON 



88 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

When Robert was thirteen, the citizens of Lan- 
caster wished to light up the town on the evening of 
the Fourth of July. It was in the midst of the Revo- 
lution ; candles were scarce and so was money ; so the 
town council frowned on the idea, Robert considered 
that a pity, and thought out a plan for sky-rockets to 
light up the heavens instead of the earth. "That is 
impossible," said a friend. "No, sir," answered 
Fulton, "there is nothing impossible." The lad did 
his best to make that saying true. 

The Paddle-Wheel Boat. — In Lancaster lived a 
clever man named William Henry, who had thought 
deeply about the steam-engine which James Watt had 
invented in England. Mr. Henry made a paddle- 
wheel boat to be moved In^ steam, and before Robert 
Fulton was born, tried liis little steamboat on Cones- 
toga Creek. It did not go well; then by some acci- 
dent it sank, but though no one believed in the idea, 
Henry kept on thinking and experimenting. Though 
he did not live to see it, he thought there would come 
a day when steam-vessels would be thick upon the 
Ohio and the Mississippi. 

Robert, who was interested in drawing and paint- 
ing, used to visit Mr. Henry's home to view pictures 
made by Benjamin West, a former Chester County boy 
who had gained great fame as an artist. The boy must 
have known of Mr. Henry's thoughts about steam- 
boats. Little did Mr. Henry dream his young visitor 



ROBERT FULTON 



89 



would be tlie one to make tlieni successful and popular. 
Robert loved to go fishing on Gonestoga Creek. 
The clumsy old boat which he used was hard to pole 
along and rowing proved equally difficult. Robert 
adopted a scheme of which he had no doubt learned 
from Mr. Henry, and placed i)addle-wheels in the 
boat. Then he and his chum could sit comfortably, 
and yet make the boat travel b}^ turning a crank. Per- 




ROBERT AND HIS CHUM COULD 81T COMFORTABLY AND YET MAKE THE BOAT TRAVEL. 

hai3s he thought how much faster the craft would go if 
he could apply steam-power instead of boy-power. 

Fulton as an Artist. — Robert loved drawing even 
more than fishing. He hammered bits of lead into 
the shape of pencils, for few pencils were then made 
of graphite as they are to-day. By the time he 
reached the age of seventeen, he used his pencils so 
well that he went to Philadelphia and supported him- 



90 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

self by art for four years. He sketched and painted 
portraits and landscapes and made drawings of 
machinery. So well did he work that at twenty-one 
he returned to Lancaster with money enough to buy 
a small farm for his mother. 

The young man had kept so closelj^ at work that 
his health suffered. To recover, he visited a. hotel in 
the mountains. There he met some gentlemen who 
were so much pleased with his paintings that they 
advised him to go to England, where Benjamin West 
would no doubt help him to succeed. 

Fulton followed the advice of the gentlemen, and 
twenty years passed before he returned to his own 
country. Benjamin West, although successful and 
famous, had not allowed his good fortune to take 
away his kindness. He received the unknown young 
man pleasantly and at last took Fulton into his own 
home, and instructed him in art. Fulton stayed for 
several years with Mr. West, and being thus favored, 
made many friends. 

Robert Fulton was fitted to attract others. His 
appearance was pleasing. His form was tall, yet 
graceful, and his features handsome. Fulton's broad 
forehead and large dark eyes showed a quick and 
intelligent mind. In conversation he expressed his 
own thoughts instead of echoing those of others, yet 
he avoided dispute and loved cheerfulness. Of his 
temper he had complete control, ^'Nature had made 
him a gentleman," said one who knew him well. 



ROBERT FULTON 91 

Fulton as a Civil Engineer and Statesman. — After 
leaving Mr. West, Fulton travelled about England for 
some time as an artist, but, after all, he preferred 
invention to art. For many months he lived in Bir- 
mingham, where he could study many kinds of 
machines. He became a civil engineer, found profit- 
able employment, and patented several machines 
which came into use. At this time canals were becom- 
ing popular. Fulton tliought that for hauling goods 
they much surpassed turnpike roads. He invented 
inclined planes to carry canal-boats over the moun- 
tains. These planes have continued to be used until 
now on at least one canal, the Morris and Essex in 
northern New Jersey. Having secured from Eng- 
land a patent on various inventions to improve canals, 
Fulton went to France to patent and introduce them 
there. France and England were old enemies, and 
were then at war. They maintained large fleets of 
war-ships to destroy each other's commerce. 

Not only was Fulton an artist and an inventor, 
but also a statesman. He had often reflected upon 
the best course for nations to follow. ''Nations 
should not be selfish," he said. "The hurt of one is 
the hurt of all. Trade on the ocean should be free. 
War is a great mistake. Let nations spend upon 
education and useful arts the money which they now 
lavish on fleets and armies." 

Instead of allowing freedom of trade upon the 
seas, the nations of Europe were trying to bar each 



92 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

other from this. England and France were the chief 
offenders. Fulton feared that the United States 
would feel compelled to imitate them in building a 
great war-fleet which would burden the country with 
taxes for no good end. He set himself to invent a 
cheap way of making war-ships useless. 

The Torpedo and the Submarine Boat. — The idea of 
the moving torpedo came into Fulton's mind — that 
by clockwork a machine carrying a quantity of pow- 
der could be sent through the water to blow up a 
vessel. "If we can thus destroy war-ships far more 
easily than they can be built, perhaps the nations will 
stop building them," he thought. But Fulton could 
not make his torpedoes move as he wished. Then he 
invented a "plunging-boat" which could sail upon 
the surface or dive below it. By this means he hoped 
to fasten torpedoes on the bottoms of ships. 

The diving boat worked well. Fulton took down 
with him comx)ressed air which he used as needed, 
and found that he could stay under water for several 
hours. A hole at the bow, covered with thick glass, 
gave enought light for steering by compass. Fulton 
called his boat the Nautilus. With his "submarine 
bombs" or torpedoes lie blew up a small vessel, and 
promised that he would do likewise with the British 
ships that were then blockading the French coast. 

The English, however, got wind of Fulton's en- 
deavors, and though he watched a whole summer, the 
ships kept at a safe distance. The French govern- 



ROBERT FULTON 93 

nient came to the conclusiou that Fiiltou was better 
at promises than at deeds. Now the English govern- 
ment invited him to cross the channel and show what 
he could do. As Fulton cared no more for one nation 
than the other, he agreed to come to England. 

Experiments in England and America. — England 
then called herself "the mistress of the seas." It 
could not be exjDected that she would sympathize with 
Fulton's plan of driving all war-ships off the ocean. 
Fulton explained his ideas and blew up a vessel, that 
went to pieces, as he said, "like an eggshell," but 
England was not willing to adopt his inventions. 
The government wished, however, that he should keep 
them secret, so that no other country could destroy 
British strength. 

For keeping his inventions to himself England 
was willing to pay Fulton well, but the inventor de- 
clared: "I never will consent to keep them secret 
should the United States need them. Were you to 
grant me twenty thousand pounds a year, I would 
sacrifice all to the safety and independence of my 
country." Atfairs with England, therefore, came to 
no result. 

Weary of these disappointments, Fulton departed 
to his native land. As soon as he arrived, he jour- 
neyed to Washington to persuade the officers there 
that his inventions had value. James Madison, then 
Secretary of State, favored his plans. The Govern- 
ment allowed him some money, with which he carried 



94 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

out ex2oeriments from an island in New York harbor. 

For more than three years Fulton carried on at 
various times his trials of torpedoes. The machinery 
needed was so complicated that he could not make the 
torpedoes work perfectly. Time after time they failed 
to do what he expected, hut, to his credit as a man, 
no failure could discourage him or throw him into a 
passion. Though machinery broke or would not work, 
though clumsy workmen made his labors vain, though 
his own strength gave out, not an angry word nor a 
comj^laint ever came from his lips. 

Fulton and Livingston. The Steamboat on the 
Seine. — Perhaps Fulton might have succeeded better 
with his tori3edoes had he given his whole attention 
to them. Experiments with a steamboat, however, 
now filled most of his time. The idea of moving ves- 
sels by steam had been in Fulton's mind for many 
years. Many had thought of such a scheme and had 
built boats to carry out their plans, but none had been 
successful enough to keep such a vessel in use. 

While Fulton lived in France he met Robert R. 
Livingston, a rich man of New York, who was much 
interested in steamboats. Livingston had already 
built one, but it proved to be a failure. The two men 
agreed to join forces. Fulton's knowledge of 
machinery was far greater than Livingston's, but 
Livingston had wealth and influence which could bring 
an invention before the public. 

The two friends shared the expense of building a 



ROBERT FULTON 95 

steamboat. Fulton did the calculating, planning and 
directing. It was set afloat upon the river Seine, but 
the hull was so light, and the engine so heavy, that 
waves caused by a storm broke the vessel apart and 
it sank. 

When the news reached Fulton he rushed to the 
spot, and for twenty-four hours worked with his own 
hands, without rest or sleep, until the boat had been 
raised. At the end of that time he was so exhausted 
that he never enjoyed good health afterward, though 
pain or weakness never prevented him from labor. 

After being repaired the vessel moved at last. In 
still water it went only a little faster than a man could 
walk, but it proved that travel in steamboats was pos- 
sible. The French government, however, would lend 
no aid to the inventors, though the boat made frequent 
trips along the Seine. 

The Clermont. — Livingston then wrote to his 
friends in New York. The State passed a law which 
gave to Livingston and Fulton the sole right to navi- 
gate steamboats on the waters which the State con- 
trolled. They were to have this right for twenty 
years, provided they would at once build a steam 
vessel which should travel at least four miles an hour 
against the current of the Hudson. 

As soon as Fulton returned to America he ordered 
a steamboat to be built in New York. It was finished 
in the spring of 1807. Fulton called it the Clermont, 
from the name of Livingston's home near Albanv. 



96 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Time passed while the machinery was being placed 
and little trial trips were being taken. It was not 
until August that Fulton was ready to set out on a 
voyage up the river, with a number of persons whom 
he had invited to try the new mode of travel. 

The Clermont would have seemed to our eyes a 
queer boat. The paddle-wheels on the side were un- 
covered. The engine of twenty-four horse-power, 
which had been built in England, as our workmen 
were not skilful enough, also lay open to the weather. 
The boiler was set in masonry. The furnace was fed 
by i^iue wood, which threw out clouds of smoke and 
sparks from the long thin stack. Fulton j^i'ovided 
masts and sails in case the Hudson tide should prove 
too strong for the engine. 

The Steamboat Proves Successful. — Ch'owds as- 
sembled at the wharf to see the Clermont start. Few 
believed that it could make the journey. Most called 
it "Fulton's Folly." The wheels, however, revolved, 
and the boat left the city behind. The craft that met 
the Clermont after dark could not understand this 
roaring monster that moved against wind and tide. 
Some of the crews ran below deck, shut themselves in, 
and let their vessels drift as they might until the ter- 
rible danger passed. 

At Livingston's home the Clermont stopped for a 
day, then resumed its voyage to Albany. The whole 
distance of one hundred and fifty miles was travelled 
in thirty-six hours, a rate of less than five miles an 



ROBERT FULTON 97 

hour — but it had been travelled, which was the great 
thing. 

Throughout the autumn the boat continued its 
trips. There were various mishaps. Sometimes the 
machiner}^ broke down. The captains of the sailing- 
vessels on the Hudson, jealous of the Clermont, ran 
into it purposely and smashed the wheels, so that 
Fulton put paddle-boxes over them. Passengers, 
however, were glad to use the new conveyance. For 
the trip to Albany they paid seven dollars, which 
included meals and berth. 

During the winter, Fulton enlarged the Clermont, 
and built two new steamboats, the Raritan and the 
Car of Neptune. Now water travel by steam-power 
had regularly begun in America, several years before 
Europe made such use of it. The Legislature of New 
York promptly gave Livingston and Fulton an exten- 
sion of their ''monopoh\" Fulton also secured 
patents from the United States, but so many persons, 
seeing his success, imitated Ins machinery and boats, 
that until his death constant law-suits were necessary 
to protect his rights. 

Fulton now built steam ferry-boats to ply across 
the North and East Rivers. The New York street 
which crossed the island between these ferry- wharves 
has been called by Fulton's name. Soon other rivers 
saw their waters invaded l)y the steamboat. Four 
years after the Clermont began its voyage, a steam- 
boat made the voyage from Pittsburgh to New Or- 

7 



98 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

leans. The steamer helped greatly in the settlement 
of the West. It was an American steamer, the Savan- 
nah, that first crossed the ocean. 

The Fulton Steam-Battery. Fulton's Death. — When 
the War of 1812 began, the commanders of the British 
ships remembered Fulton's torpedoes and his sub- 
marine boat. They approached the American coast 
with great caution, and tried to find out where Fulton 
spent his time and what he was doing. Fulton, in- 
deed, was at first too busy with otlier matters to think 
of annoying the English, but toward the end of the 
war he designed a floating steam battery to carry 
heavy guns which discharged red-hot shot. The sides 
of the vessel were nearly five feet thick so that the en- 
emy's guns could not pierce them. Doubtless this ves- 
sel would have kept hostile ships away from that part 
of the coast, but before it was finished, war had ended. 

Fulton never saw the completed vessel. During 
the late winter he had visited his works at Paulus 
Hook, now Jersey City, where the steam-battery was 
being built. For three hours he stood in the cold. On 
his return the Hudson was frozen, so that he had to 
walk for a considerable distance over the ice, through 
j)ools of water. While ill from this exposure, he be- 
came so anxious to know the progress of his battery 
that he paid the works a second visit, which gave him 
his death. The members of the Legislature wore 
mourning for six weeks. At his funeral a greater 
crowd of citizens assembled than had ever before been 



ROBERT FULTON 99 

witnessed on any such occasion. His body rests in 
Trinity clmrchyard, at the head of Wall Street, New 
York. 

Fulton died a poor man. Though he had received 
much money during his life, the expense of the steam- 
boats which he operated and the lawsuits in which he 
was involved swallowed it all. Fulton, however, had 
a soul above gain. He prized money only as it en- 
abled him to make new experiments. 

Fulton's True Fame. — The fame of Fulton has been 
gained mainly from his connection with the history 
of the steamboat. Many persons have credited him 
with being its inventor. Fulton neither invented nor 
built the first steamboat ; but through his own indus- 
try, and the help of his friend Livingston, he did make 
the steamboat successful as a means of travel. 

Few, however, know of Fulton's endeavors to im- 
prove canals and extend them, or of his plans to do 
away with ocean warfare and the burden which great 
navies lay upon the people. Torpedoes and sub- 
marine boats have been much improved since Fulton's 
day and have come into common use. They have 
not, however, driven warships off the seas, as Fulton 
hoped. The jealousy of nations still increases fleets 
and armies. But the day may yet arrive when Ful- 
ton's dream will come true, when the only fleets of the 
world will be those of peaceful commerce, and the 
money which nations formerly wasted on rival war- 
ships shall be applied to better purposes. 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 
1781-1851. 

THE WOODSMAN OF AMERICA. 

" To repay evils with kindness is the rehgion I was taught 
to practice, and this will forever be my rule." 

The West India Planter. — In tlie tropical island of 
Sauto Domingo lived a rich planter, named Audubon. 
His home was liappy, and was furnished with every 

luxury. Slavery, the very 
cause of his wealth, proved to 
he the curse that broke up his 
life in the island. The French 
planters were compelled to be 
forever on watch lest the many 
negroes should overj^ower their 
few masters. A revolt did 
occur. The slaves murdered 
the planter's beautiful wife, 
but he managed to escape to New Orleans (Louisiana 
was then owned by France) carrying with him most 
of his money and valuables. 

With the i)lanter came his little son, John James. 
They finally returned to France, where Mr. Audubon 
married again. He soon received an appointment as 
officer in one of the French ships which were aiding 
the Americans during the Revolution. The boy was 
100 




JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 101 

left under the care of his stepmother, in a beautiful 
town on the river Loire. 

The Spoiled Boy. — We often hear that stepmothers 
behave cruelly to children who are not their own, but 
such was not the case in this instance. The new Mrs. 
Audubon spoiled the youngster, hid his faults, boasted 
of his fine qualities, and often declared to his face that 
he was the handsomest boy in France. All his idle 
wishes were satisfied. For instance, he had leave 
to run up a bill at any confectionery shop in the town. 
The boy's health and disposition began to be in danger 
of ruin from over-indulgence. 

The father, like most naval officers, had strict ideas 
of discipline, but as he was still connected with naval 
affairs, the home seldom saw him. He ordered that 
John James should have the best education which the 
neighborhood could afford. The stepmother, how- 
ever, allowed the son to do very much as he pleased. 
Instead of attending to his studies, most pleasant 
days found him roaming the fields. There he gath- 
ered many natural objects — nests, eggs, flowers, 
mosses, and minerals. 

The Father's Way of Education. — Mr. Audubon re- 
turned from one of his voyages prepared to inquire 
into his boy's progress. John James exhibited his 
collections, with which the father was much pleased. 
''What else have you learned, my son?" was the next 
question. The boy hung his head. In the evening 
Mr. Audubon called for some music. His little 



102 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

daughter played the piano, and the father, delighted, 
presented her with a handsome book. Now it was her 
brother's turn to play. Alas, his violin had lain un- 
touched for a month. When he brought it out, two 
of the strings were broken. Mr. Audubon said noth- 
ing to reprove John James, but asked a few more 
questions as to liis studies, then hummed a tune and 
left the room. 

Early next morning father and son were in a car- 
riage driving toward the port where Mr. Audubon's 
duties forced him mostly to reside. The father spoke 
no angry word during the long journey, but the boy 
knew that indulgence had ended. When they arrived, 
Mr. Audubon took his son's hand, and said calmly: 
"My beloved boy, you are safe now. I have brought 
you here so that I can pay constant attention to your 
studies. You shall have ample time for pleasure, but 
the rest of the time must be employed with industry 
and care." 

So John James found it. There was no escape 
from his tasks. When the father's duties called him 
away, the boy was committed to the care of a secre- 
tary who was very severe. Once, displeased at being- 
compelled to drudge over a hard arithmetic problem, 
young Audubon jumped out of the window and ran 
off through the garden. The secretary had seen his 
escape ; in a few minutes appeared a guard, who took 
the boy on board the prison ship where offending 
sailors were kept. Here John James was surrounded 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 



103 



by sucli a vile company that he felt vile also. He did 
not obtain release until his father returned. It was 
a severe lesson. 

By strict measures, the wise father undid the mis- 
chief which indulgence 
had caused. When les- 
sons were finished, John 
James had plenty of 
leisure, however, and he 
continued to roam about 
the country. Especially 
did he delight in observ- 
ing the habits of birds. 
He began to make draw- 
ings of them, and con- 
tinued till he had fin- 
ished two hundred pic- 
tures. 

Audubon at Mill 
Grove — When Audubon 
had grown to be a 
young man, his father 
informed him of a sur- 
prise. He was to live for a time in America. Mr. 
Audubon had bought an estate called Mill Grove, 
lying on the bank of Perkiomen Creek, just above 
its junction with the Schuylkill opposite Valley Forge. 
It was thought that travel would broaden the young 
man's ideas and help to form his character. 




THE SECRETARY HAD BEEN HIS ESCAPE. 



104 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Audubon found Mill Grove a delightful place. He 
lived with the tenant of the place and received part 
of the rent-money for his personal expenses. Well 
supplied with cash, he had nothing to do but to enjoy 
himself. He hunted and fished, rode, jiainted, and 
played on the violin. No neighborhood party was 
complete without the handsome young Frenchman. 
With constant exercise in the fresh air he grew strong 
and active. His strong body proved of great value 
to him in after life. Among all his other amusements, 
Audubon did not forget his beloved birds. He studied 
and drew the American songsters as he had done with 
those in France. 

A few months after the young man arrived at Mill 
Grove, he was told that an Englishman had bought 
the next farm as a residence. As France, led hy 
Napoleon, was then at war with England, Audul)on 
foolishly declared that he wished nothing to do with 
any one of that nation. Winter came at last, and 
Audubon chanced to meet the stranger while quail- 
shooting. He was forced to admire Mr. Bakewell's 
sure aim and his well-trained dogs. They fell into 
conversation and liecame friends. 

The New Life in Kentucky. — As a consequence of 
this meeting, Audubon fell in love with his new 
friend's daughter. She was so young, however, and 
lie so unbusiness-like, that four years passed before 
the parents allowed them to marry. The young couple 
then set out for Kentucky, where Audubon expected 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 105 

to set up a store. They travelled to Pittsburgh by 
stage, being upset ou the way so that the wife was 
seriously hurt. Then in a flatboat they floated down 
the Ohio to Louisville, where they settled. 

Here they might have prospered in this growing 
State if Audubon had attended to business. His mind, 
however, was not on trade. "Birds were birds, then 
as now," he said afterward, "and my thoughts were 
ever turning toward them as the objects of my 
greatest delight. I shot, I drew, I looked on nature 
only. M}^ days were happy beyond conception, and 
beyond this I really cared not. I seldom passed a 
day without drawing a bird or noting something re- 
specting its habits, my partner meantime attending 
the counter." 

The only feature of Audubon's business in which 
he took interest was an occasional journey to Phila- 
delphia to buy more goods. These long and lonely 
trips through the woods gave him opportunity to see 
and study many birds. Once, while driving before 
him several pack-horses laden with goods and money 
too, the motions of a songster so absorbed him that 
for a time he completely lost his property. Audu- 
bon even engaged to accompany Lewis and Clark on 
their expedition to explore the newly-bought Louis- 
iana territory. It would be delightful, he thought, to 
see the new birds to be found beyond the Mississippi. 
Fortunately for his wife and children, business 
troubles prevented this scheme from going into effect. 



106 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

While in Kentucky, Audubon met Daniel Boone. 
He admired the pioneer's strength and his air of 
courage and honesty. The two kindred spirits took 
several rambles together through the woods. Boone 
showed Audubon the sureness of his rifle. Picking 
out one of the many squirrels that sat upon the trees, 
he fired. The shot, without wounding the animal, 
struck the bark where he crouched, and brought him 
tumbling to the ground, dead from the shock. 
"There," said Boone, "that's what we call barking 
a squirrel." 

Business Failure and Poverty. — Delightful though 
the Kentucky life might be, business matters went 
from bad to worse. Even the sale of beautiful Mill 
Grove kept Audubon supplied with money for but a 
short time. All his undertakings failed. At last he 
gave up to his creditors every particle of property, 
keeping only "the clothes I wore on that day, my 
original drawings, and my gun." The brave wife 
never reproached her husband for his misfortune. 
"With her," said Audubon, "was I not always rich?" 

One considerable talent the bankrupt man pos- 
sessed — a talent for drawing. He now began to make 
crayon portraits, which proved to be novelties in 
Kentucky. Orders flowed in. Audubon had as much 
work as he could do. "My drawings of birds were 
not neglected meanwhile," he said. "In this partic- 
ular there seemed to hover round me almost a mania, 
and I would even give up doing a picture, the profits 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON" 107 

of which would have supplied our wants for a week 
or more, to represent a little citizen of the feathered 
tribe." 

The demand for pictures at last stopped, and six 
years of poverty and wandering for Audubon began. 
The naturalist roamed from Kentucky to Louisiana 
and back again, supporting himself mostly by paint- 
ing. It was necessary that his wife should find em- 
ployment as governess and teacher, and the pair were 
often most unwillingly separated for long periods. 
Still, in his spare time, Audubon pursued his chosen 
occupation of observing and representing birds. He 
had determined that this was to be his life-work. No 
one encouraged him but his wife. His best friends 
regarded him as crazy upon the subject. 

Audubon's Bird-Pictures. — In order to make better 
bird-pictures, Audubon took lessons in oil-painting. 
At last he determined to go to Philadelphia, which 
was then (1824) the art center of the country. Here 
he would perfect himself in painting, find employ- 
ment, gain friends, and learn how to put his drawings 
before the public. 

In Philadelphia Thomas Sully, the famous artist, 
gave him lessons and refused to accept any return. 
Audubon exhibited his pictures at Earle's art gallery, 
but found that the ''show" did not pay. Many per- 
sons, however, praised him highly. They assured him 
that nothing so good in that line had been seen before 
in America. 



108 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

The attractions of Audubon's pictures lay in rep- 
resenting the birds "in their own lively animated 
ways when seeking food or pleasure." Nothing stiff 
or unnatural spoiled his art ; he drew from the bird in 
its own woodland. His birds, also, were surrounded 
by the actual trees, plants, rocks and streams among 
which the eye would perceive them out-of-doors. 

Audubon took his pictures to New York also, 
hoping to have them engraved and published, but he 
found that few persons were interested enough to sub- 
scribe for such pictures. He was depressed. "I 
feel that I am strange to all but the birds of Amer- 
ica," he wrote. He returned to Louisiana, where his 
wife was now making an income of nearly three 
thousand dollars a year. That winter Audubon 
worked furiously and took in two thousand dollars. 
With this sum increased by money which his devoted 
wife had saved, he set sail for England, bearing with 
him about four hundred life-size colored pictures of 
American birds. 

Audubon in Great Britain. — In Great Britain Audu- 
bon's pictures were thought marvellous. He exhib- 
ited them publicly and gained considerable profit, but 
his heart was set on publishing a great book, ''The 
Birds of America." He realized his ambition. The 
immense volume came forth in parts, the colored 
plates showing even the eagle in natural size. Of the 
smaller birds, each plate gave several pictures. With 
these plates were published interesting accounts of 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 109 

birds and descriptions of scenes in which they lived. 

Audubon himself received enough attention to 
turn the head of one who had been so poor and neg- 
lected in his own country. ''The Woodsman of 
America" became his popular name. His fine fea- 
tures, athletic frame, and flowing hair made him a 
person of striking appearance. As he recounted his 
adventures in the forest, or described the scenes 
among which he had roamed, his hearers listened en- 
chanted. But he did not become vain, and in the 
midst of fashionable entertainments his heart 
yearned for the wilderness he loved. "I never before 
felt the want of a glance at our forests as I do now," 
he wrote. "Could I be there for a moment, hear the 
mellow mocking-bird, or the wood-thrush, to me al- 
ways so pleasing, how happy should I be; but alas, I 
am far from those scenes." 

Return to America. — After three years of absence. 
Audubon landed again in the United States. This 
home-coming was much different from his departure. 
He returned with reputation established, money in 
pocket, and the crowning work of his life being regu- 
larly published. All that j^revented this work, the 
"Birds of America," from gaining great popularity 
was its immense size and the great expense to sub- 
scribers. The complete work cost about one thousand 
dollars. No form for his book except the grandest, 
however, would satisfy Audubon. 

The naturalist's return was for the purpose of 



110 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

comiDleting his collection of drawings by adding such 
birds as he yet lacked and perfecting his knowledge 
of their surroundings. Camden, New Jersey, became 
his headquarters. Thence he made excursions, one 
to Egg Harbor, another to the wilderness above 
Mauch Chunk. "I wish I had eight pairs of hands," 
he said, ''and another body to collect specimens," 
What one man could do, however, Audubon accom- 
plished. When not actually observing in the field, he 
rose long before sunrise and worked until night. 
"After all," he said, unsatisfied, "my efforts at copy- 
ing nature fall far short of the originals." 

After a summer and autumn spent thus, he left to 
join Mrs. Audubon in Louisiana. On the way he 
stopped in Louisville to see his eldest son, from whom 
he had been separated for nearly five years. We 
can imagine with what joy Audubon's devoted wife re- 
ceived him. Unexpectedly he arrived, and her surprise 
and emotion were so great that he feared for her life. 

Labors to Complete Audubon's Work. — Together 
the happy pair sailed again to England. Difficulties 
in financial affairs still existed to cause them anxiety. 
Many subscribers for the "Birds of America" had 
not paid ; others had withdrawn their names. Money 
was needed to pay for continuing the publication. 
Audubon took his brush again and painted many pic- 
tures of birds and animals, which he sold at good 
prices. He also journeyed about collecting money 
due and procuring new subscribers. 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 111 

He now began another book, considerable in size, 
but much smaller and cheaper than his other work. 
It was called "Biography of the Birds of America." 
This came out in five large illustrated volumes, writ- 
ten in a most entertaining style. Audubon here set 
down many of his personal experiences. So hard did 
Audubon work on the book that the first volume was 
finished in three months, for he wrote from dawn to 
dark. It was well that his days out-of-doors had 
given him a constitution of iron. 

This second book brought in considerable profit. 
Now Audubon did not need to be anxious about money 
matters. As he looked back on his efforts, he said: 
"Who would believe that once in London I had only 
one sovereign left in my pocket, and did not know 
of a single person to whom I could apply to borrow 
another when I was on the verge of failure in the 
very beginning of my enterprise? Above all, who 
would believe that I extricated myself from my diffi- 
culties, not by borrowing money, but by rising at 
four o'clock in the morning, working hard all day, and 
disposing of my works at a i^rice which a common 
laborer would have thought little more than enough 
pay for his work?" 

Expeditions to the South, to Maine, even to Lab- 
rador, filled several of the next years. Victor, the 
eldest son, was now able to superintend the publish- 
ing and Audubon's second son could assist in draw- 
ing and painting the specimens secured. Thus the 



112 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

naturalist's work was lightened, and lie could spend 
more time in observing and collecting, in order to 
make liis knowledge as extensive as possible. After 
twelve years of constant labor, the two companion 
books on birds, containing the results of his whole 
life, were finished, and made the name of Audubon 
forever famous. 

The Home on the Hudson. Last Days, — Audubon 
then took up his residence in New York City, but the 
"Woodsman of America" could not live in a city, 
small though New York was in comparison to its 
present size. He sold his house there and bought a 
small estate on the Hudson. It is now within the 
limits of New York, and is called Audubon Park. 
Here, with his loved wife, his two sons, their wives, 
and a troop of grandchildren, he was happy. From 
the beach in front of his lawn he cast nets, his bird 
friends made the woods all about ring with song, 
and many animals, elk, moose, bear, deer and foxes, 
were kept in large enclosures, never in cages. It was 
a little paradise of nature. 

In this favorable spot Audubon began two works 
on four-footed creatures, which were to be on 
the same plan as his former ones about birds. These 
were called the "Quadrupeds of North America" and 
"Biography of Quadrupeds." He could not recon- 
cile himself to stay quietly at home, and to study ani- 
mals made a last journey up the Missouri river in a 
steamboat, as far as the mouth of the Yellowstone. 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 113 

Audubon was now approaching seventy. His eyes 
failed. He was forced to give up his drawing and 
painting, although his sight, which had astonished 
even the sharp-eyed Indians, remained good for dis- 
tant objects. For the last few years of his life 
Audubon was content to leave to his sons the finishing 
of the work which he had begun. No age, however, 
could take away his lifelong courtesy and kindness. 
No child or stranger ever passed without a greeting 
from him. 

At last the "Woodsman" was laid to rest in a 
New York churchyard, where a beautiful monument, 
sculptured with forms of tlie birds he loved, marks 
the spot. His name has been taken by many societies 
which to-day love, study, and protect the birds of our 
country. We need not now shoot birds, as Audubon 
was forced to do, in order to know them — an opera- 
glass will bring them near enough — but if we learn 
their habits and song, and seek their haunts, as he 
did, we shall find a source of the purest enjoyment. 

AN ADVENTURE IN A CABIN. 

My march was of long duration. I saw the sun 
sinking below the horizon long before I could perceive 
any appearance of woodlands, and nothing in the 
shape of man had I met with that day. The track 
which I followed was only an old Indian trail, and as 
darkness over-shadowed the prairie, I felt some de- 



114 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

sire to reacli at least a copse, in which I might lie 
down to rest. The night-hawks were skimming over 
and around me, attracted by the buzzing wings of the 
beetles which form their food, and the distant howl- 
ing of the wolves gave me hope that I should soon 
arrive at the skirts of the woods. 

I did so, and almost at the same instant firelight 
attracting my eye, I moved toward it. I discovered 
by its glare that it was from the hearth of a small 
log cabin, and that a tall figure passed and repassed 
between it and me. I reached the spot and present- 
ing myself at the door, asked the tall figure, which 
proved to be a woman, if I might take shelter under 
her roof for the night. Her voice was gruff and her 
dress negligent. She answered in the affirmative. 

I walked in, took a wooden stool, and quietly 
seated myself by the fire. The next object that at- 
tracted my notice was a finely-formed young Indian, 
resting his head between his hands. A long bow 
rested against the log wall near him, while a quan- 
tity of arrows and two or three raccoon skins lay at 
his feet. I addressed him in French. He raised his 
head and pointed to one of his eyes with his finger; 
his face was covered with blood. An hour before, as 
he was in the act of discharging an arrow at a rac- 
coon in the top of a tree, the arrow had split upon the 
cord, and sprung back with such violence into his 
right eye as to destroy it forever. 

Feeling hungry, I inquired what sort of fare I 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 115 

might expect. I drew a timepiece from my pocket, 
and told the woman that it was late, and that I was 
fatigued. She spied my watch, the richness of which 
seemed to operate on her feelings with electric quick- 
ness. She told me there was plenty of venison and 
jerked butfalo meat. But my watch had struck her 
fancy, and her curiosity had to be gratified with an 
immediate sight of it. She was all ecstasy, spoke of 
its beauty, asked me its value, and put the chain 
around her brawny neck, saying how happy the pos- 
session of such a watch would make her. Thoughtless, 
and, as I fancied myself, secure, I paid little atten- 
tion to her talk or her movements, but helped myself 
and my dog to a good supper. 

The Indian rose from his seat as if in extreme suf- 
fering. He passed me several times, and once pinched 
me on the side so violently that the pain nearly 
brought forth an exclamation of anger. I looked at 
him, his eye met mine, but his look was so forbidding 
that it struck a chill into my system. Pie again seated 
himself, drew his butcher-knife, examined its edge, 
and sent me expressive glances whenever our hostess 
chanced to have her back towards us. 

Never until that moment had my senses been 
awakened to the danger which I now suspected to be 
about me. I rested well assured that whatever ene- 
mies I might have, the Indian was not of the number. 
I asked the woman for m}^ watch, wound it up, and 
under pretence of wishing to see the weather, walked 



116 NOTED FENNSYLVANIANS 

out of the cabin, taking my gun. I slipped a ball into 
each barrel, scraped the edges of the flints, renewed 
the primings, and returned to the hut. I took a few 
bear-skins, made a pallet of them, and, calling my 
faithful dog to my side, lay down, with my gun close 
to my body, and in a few minutes was to all appear- 
ance fast asleep. 

A short time had elapsed when some voices were 
heard, and from the corner of my eye I saw two 
athletic youths making their entrance, bearing a dead 
stag on a pole. They asked for whiskey and helped 
themselves freely to it. Observing me and the 
wounded Indian, they asked who I was and why that 
rascal (meaning the Indian) was in the house. The 
mother, for so she proved to be, bade them speak less 
loudly, made mention of my watch, and took them to 
a corner where a conversation took place, the mean- 
ing of which it retpiired little shrewdness in me to 
guess. 

I saw the mother take a large carving-knife, and 
go to the grindstone to whet its edge. I watched her 
working away, and the cold sweat covered my l)ody. 
Her task finished, she walked to her reeling sons, and 
said, ''There, that'll soon settle him! Boys, kill yon 
Indian, and then for the watch!" 

I turned, cocked my gun-locks silently, touched my 
dog, and lay ready to start up and shoot the first who 
might attempt my life. The moment was fast ap- 
proaching. The hag was advancing slowly, probably 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 117 

contemplating the best way of despatching me while 
her sons should be engaged with the Indian. 

The door was suddenly opened, and there entered 
two stout travellers, each with a long rifle on his 
shoulder. I bounced up on my feet, and told them 
how well it was for me that they should have arrived 
at that moment. The tale was told in a minute. The 
drunken sons were secured, and the woman, in spite 
of her vociferations, shared the same fate. The In- 
dian fairly danced for joy, and gave us to understand 
that, as he could not sleep for pain, he would watch 
over us. 

You may suppose that we slept much less than we 
talked. The two strangers gave me an account of 
their once having been themselves in a similar situa- 
tion. Day came fair and rosy, and with it the punish- 
ment of the captives. They were quite sobered. 
Their feet were unbound, but their arms were still 
securel}" tied. We marched them into the woods off 
the road, then set fire to the cabin, gave all the skins 
and implements to the young Indian warrior, and 
proceeded, well pleased, toward the settlements. 



ELISHA KENT KANE. 

1820-1857. 

EXPLORER OF THE NORTH. 

Kane's Youth. — A few years after the opening of 
the Erie Canal, a small boy, who answered to the 
name of Elisha Kane, was attending a Philadelphia 

school on Eighth Street near 
Walnut. He was little, but 
energetic, mischievous and 
daring. Elisha liked any- 
thing dangerous. His favor- 
ite sport was to climb to the 
top of some high place — a 
tall tree, a lofty building, or 
even some great smoking 
chimney. Even when Elisha 
could do nothing more than to creep through the trap- 
door on to the roof of his home, he was happy. 

This energetic, daring disposition, although at first 
it made him neglect his school work, proved to be of 
use to him in after life. When Elisha became a young 
man of eighteen, he one day realized that he had been 
wasting time, and that study in particular lines was 
not only necessary, but also pleasant. Then he be- 
gan to work hard. He dropped his mischief and be- 
came very anxious to deserve success. His attention 

118 




ELISHA KENT KANE. 



ELISHA KENT KANE 119 

turned to the study of medicine. While Elisha was 
still under twenty-one, and before he had finished his 
medical course at the University of Pennsylvania, he 
was appointed a resident doctor at Blockley Hospital. 

Kane's Travels. — After Elisha graduated as a 
doctor his adventurous spirit led him to become a 
surgeon in the navy. By so doing, the young man had 
opportunities to visit many countries of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa. This was exactly to his taste, and he 
learned much by his travels. 

One of Kane's adventures was very dangerous. 
In the island of Luzon, the largest of the Philippines, 
stood the volcano of Taal. The natives believed it 
to be the abode of some powerful spirit, and feared 
even to travel near the mountain. Any attempt to ex- 
plore its crater they believed would be certain death. 

Kane, however, climbed the volcano, and was low- 
ered down the steep wall of the crater by a rope. On 
reaching the bottom he left the line, and descended 
toward the center, where jets of burning gas and 
pools of boiling green water showed the activity of 
Mt. Taal. The sulphurous gas nearly stifled him and 
the heated rock burned his feet, but he filled bottles 
with the water of the pools, collected specimens of 
lava, and staggered back to the rope. So weak was 
he from the deadly gas that he could scarcelj^ place 
the rope about his body, and fainted away as he 
reached the top. Danger was nothing to him, how- 
ever, if he could accomplish his object. 



120 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Adventures in Mexico. — When the Mexican War 
began, Dr. Kane was very ill witli a fever which he 
had taken in Africa ; but upon recovery, he could not 
bear to think that others were fighting the battles of 
the United States while he remained at home. So he 
got permission to join the army as a physician. He 
took ship to Vera Cruz, and then started toward the 
army of General Scott, then in the city of Mexico. 

The journey was "dangerous, for the country was 
filled with roving bands of robbers. In order to be 
safe, it was necessary for Dr. Kane to have the escort 
of a Mexican, formerly a robber, who with his band 
had entered the American service. On the way a 
small body of Mexicans encountered Kane's party. 

Dr. Kane's robber escort wished to run away; l)ut 
Kane put himself at the head of the men and charged 
on the Mexicans. Tlis horse fell wounded ; the doctor 
soon released himself from the animal and continued 
the fight. Kane's men captured several prisoners. 

As soon as the robber chief had recovered from 
his fear, he determined to avenge himself for his 
fright by killing the prisoners. Dr. Kane had to draw 
his revolver. "I will shoot the first man who lays 
hand upon a prisoner !" he cried. To his firmness the 
captives owed their lives. As they continued the 
journey Kane fell ill. The officer who had commanded 
the Mexicans was released at the end of the journey. 
He then took Kane to his own home in the city of 
Mexico and had him nursed until well. 



ELISHA KENT KANE 121 

Voyage to the North. — Dr. Kane had already seen 
many lands, but after the Mexican War he was to 
visit a part of the earth entirely new to him. The 
interest of everyone was fixed at this time upon the 
lands surrounding the North Pole. Somewhere in 
that expanse of snow and ice were the men of an 
English expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin. 

The two ships of Franklin had been lost for sev- 
eral years. The English government had sent out 
several parties to find the missing men, but without 
success. The United States government wished to 
aid the search, and fitted out two vessels. Kane, 
always desirous to help in any good adventure, asked 
leave to join the expedition. Permission to be its 
physician was granted him. 

The American ships reached Greenland, passed 
the last Eskimo settlement, and at the beginning of 
July found themselves wedged fast in a great mass 
of ice, where they stayed for three weeks. Finally 
the ice broke up and they resumed their voyage. 
Traces of Franklin and his men were found, but tlie 
expedition gained no knowledge of their fate. 
Through the winter the vessels remained frozen up. 
Dr. Kane watched carefully over the health of the 
crews, and although some were attacked by scurvy, 
that dreadful disease of the Arctic, no one died. 

Second Arctic Voyage. — As soon as the expedition 
returned to the United States, Dr. Kane turned his 
thoughts toward another Northern voyage. He was 



122 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

not satisfied with the results of the previous trip and 
wished to be commander of the next one. In order 
to gain money for that purpose he wrote the story of 
his journey and lectured on it in many cities. As 
time went on, his whole soul was thrown into the 
task. Congress refused to vote any money to assist 
him, but the Secretary of the Navy favored his cause. 
Various prominent men made contributions, and at 
last, by many ways, the money was gained. Dr. Kane 
had made himself, meanwhile, a national hero. 

The little ship which carried the expedition held 
but eighteen persons. It seemed too small for navi- 
gating those icy, stormy seas, but Dr. Kane was not 
afraid. Ten 3^ears had passed since Sir John Frank- 
lin had been lost, but Kane hoped that the commander 
and crew were still living somewhere with the Eskimos 
waiting for white men to come and bring them home. 

That winter, while his ship, the Advance, was 
frozen fast. Dr. Kane sent out sledge-parties to ex- 
plore. One of the parties, overcome by cold, left 
several men lying nearly frozen upon the ice, and re- 
turned to the vessel. Kane immediately started with 
a rescue party to the help of the deserted men. Forty 
miles had to be covered before reaching the sufferers. 
The thermometer marked forty-six degrees below 
zero. The cold struck to the very bone, so that the 
strongest could scarcely breathe. 

For eighteen hours they travelled without water 
or food. At last they found the men, lying within 



ELISHA KENT KANE 



123 



their tent in darkness, waiting for the end. The poor 
fellows were put on a sledge, and the return journey 
began. At last the cold nearly overcame most of the 
party. They wished to lie down and sleep, but Dr. 




AT LAST THEY FOUND THE MEN LYING WITHIN THEIR TENT. 

Kane knew that this would be fatal. After terrible 
suffering they finally reached the ship; but it was 
necessary to cut off the toes of two of the men. Others 
were snow-blind, some were delirious, and two after- 
ward died from the exposure. 

Fast in the Ice. Kane Escapes. — Another party 
sent out that winter by Dr. Kane reached the farthest 
point north which man up to that time had ever at- 



124 NOTED PENNSYLYANIANS 

tained, and saw a great body of water, which Kane 
wrongly thought was an open sea surrounding the 
Pole. Kane hoped that in summer the ice would break 
about his ship ; but it was vain. Would it be best to 
try escape in an open boat, or to remain with the ship 
and si3end another winter in that spot! 

Kane called the roll, and each man answered for 
himself. Eight out of seventeen decided to stick by 
the ship; the rest wished to try the boat-journey 
south. In August they started out, but found escape 
imj)ossible, and returned to the Advance. 

The second winter passed slowly away. When 
spring came again and daylight became strong, final 
preparations to leave the vessel began. The Ad- 
vance, fast in her icy bed, would advance no farther. 
In May the start was made. Three boats, mounted 
on sledges, bore the provisions. Before leaving, all 
walked around the ship to take a last look at the 
vessel which had been so long their home. 

At last the party reached open water and took to 
the boats, tossing along the cliffs of Greenland. After 
a time the openings of water ceased, and again the 
men took to the ice, pulling along their heavy boats. 
Strength began to give out, but they persisted, and 
after a journey of nearly three months, saw upon the 
waves a sealskin canoe. Its owner conducted them to 
the nearest settlement of whites, and they had at last 
reached the end of their trials. 

Last Days of Kane. — On his return home, Kane was 



ELISHA KENT KANE 125 

celebrated as au Arctic explorer of the first rank. He 
liad proved himself energetic and brave, had been 
careful of the welfare of his crew, and had made 
numerous observations and discoveries which would 
make such exploration easier in the future. Instead 
of resting from his labors, Dr. Kane began at once 
to write the narrative of his voyage. 

By the time his book was finished, Kane's health 
grew so poor that he decided to rest by travel. Ac- 
cordingly the explorer sailed for England. While 
there, he visited Lady Franklin, the devoted wife of 
Sir John Franklin. Everywhere in England he was 
received with honor; but the atmosphere of London 
proved unhealthful, and he again sailed, now for 
sunny Cuba. On Christmas Day Kane reached 
Havana, but in a weak condition. There he died. 

The body of the explorer was taken to New Or- 
leans and thence to Philadelphia. All the principal 
cities on the way held impressive ceremonies in his 
honor. In Philadelphia the body lay in state in Inde- 
pendence Hall. The funeral was one of the most im- 
posing ever seen in the city. Men of high standing 
in every business and profession took part in the 
immense procession which followed the coffin. The 
burial was in Laurel Hill Cemetery, where Dr. Kane's 
grave may still be seen. 

At his death, Elisha Kent Kane was but thirty- 
seven, small in stature, and of slight frame. The 
wonder of all was that such a young man, of no great 



126 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

strength, and subject to almost constant illness, could 
accomplish so much. His life shows the result of the 
mind's government over the body. 

LIFE ON A FROZEN-IN SHIP. 

How do we spend the day, or rather the twenty- 
four hours! for it is either all day here, or all night, 
or a twilight mixture of both. 

At six in the morning the decks are cleaned, the 
water-hole opened, and things put to rights. At half- 
past seven all rise, wash on deck, and come below for 
breakfast. Our breakfast (all fare alike) is hard-tack, 
pork, stewed apples frozen like molasses candy, tea 
and coffee, with a delicate portion of raw potato. 

After breafast, the smokers take their pipes till 
nine; then all hands turn to; McGary to play tailor, 
Whipple to make shoes, Bonsall to tinker, Baker to 
skin birds, and the rest to my ''office." Take a look 
at it ! One table, one salt-pork lamp, three stools, and 
as many waxen-faced men with their legs drawn up 
under them, the deck being too cold for the feet. One 
is making maps, others are copying log-books. 

So we get on to dinner-time, the occasion of an- 
other gathering, which misses the tea and coffee of 
breakfast, but rejoices in pickled cabbage and dried 
peaches instead. At dinner as at breakfast the raw 
I)otato comes in, our healthful luxury. Like doctor- 
stuff generally, it is not appetizing. Grating it down 
nicely, and adding the utmost oil, it is as much as I can 



ELISHA KENT KANE 127 

do to persuade the men to shut their eyes and bolt it. 
Two absolutely refuse to taste it. I tell them of its 
virtues, but my eloquence is wasted; they persevere 
in rejecting the admirable compound. 

Sleep, exercise, amusement, and work at will, carry 
on the day till our six o'clock supper, a meal some- 
thing like breakfast and something like dinner, only a. 
little more scant; then the officers come in with the 
reports of the day. Last of all comes my own record 
of the day gone by, every line, as I look back upon its 
pages,' giving evidence of a weakened body and 
harassed mind. 

All this seems tolerable for commonplace routine ; 
but there is a lack of comfort which it does not tell of. 
Our fuel is three bucketfuls of coal a day, and our tem- 
perature outside as I write is 46 degrees below zero. 

Wine freezes in the cabin lockers, and the beams 
overhead are hung with tubs of chopped ice, to make 
water for our daily drink. Our lamps cannot be per- 
suaded to burn salt lard; our oil is exhausted; and 
we work by muddy tapers of cork and cotton floated 
in saucers. We have not a pound of fresh meat, and 
only a barrel of potatoes left. 

Only two men are exempt from scurvy; and, as I 
look around upon the pale faces and haggard looks 
of my comrades, I feel that we are fighting the battle 
of life at a disadvantage, and that an Arctic night and 
an Arctic day age a man more rapidly and harshly 
than a year anywhere else in all this weary world. 



LUCRETIA MOTT. 
1793-1880. 
THE FRIEND OF THE SLAVE. 
Lucretia Mott Speaks in a Convention. — Ever since 
the Revolutionary War, many thoughtful persons in 
the United States considered slavery to be an evil, 
but the question of actually 
freeing the slaves was not seri- 
ously brought forward until 
William Lloyd Garrison in his 
paper, ' ' The Liberator, ' ' set the 
nation talking about the matter. 
A few years after the first 
railroad train had been run in 
this country, a convention met 
in Philadelphia to form a 
National Anti-Slavery Society. 
Less than seventy-five delegates attended — a small 
number for a national society! It was not popular in 
those days to be an "abolitionist." John Greenleaf 
Whittier acted as one of the secretaries of the meet- 
ing. Four women, all Friends, or Quakers, attended 
as lookers-on, but were not considered as delegates. 
When the '^platform" (the statement of the 
society's principles) was being read, a discussion of 
some of the points began. One of the four women 
rose to speak. A gentleman present afterward said : 
*'I had never before heard a woman speak at a public 

128 




LUCRETIA MOTT. 



LUCRETIA MOTT 129 

meeting. She said but a few words, but these were 
spoken so modestly, in such sweet tones, and yet 
withal so decisively, that no one could fail to be 
pleased." 

The woman who spoke was Lucretia Mott, well 
known as a worker and speaker in the Society of 
Friends, but who had not come forward previously 
as an advocate of the abolition of slaver}^ She had 
a peculiar gift for expressing what she thought right, 
and an earnest desire to search for the right. 

Some of the well-known men who had been asked 
to take part in the convention refused to do so. This 
discouraged several persons when the news was an- 
nounced; but Lucretia Mott rose again, and said: 
"Right principles are stronger than great names. If 
our principles are right, why should we be cowards? 
Why should we wait for those who have never had the 
courage to maintain the rights of the slaves?" After 
she had spoken, no one uttered another word of dis- 
couragement. 

Danger of the Abolitionists. — Soon a Female Anti- 
Slavery Society was organized. Its members were 
mostly Friends, and Lucretia Mott was its president 
for many years. The times were stormy. Feeling 
ran high, and the abolitionists were often insulted and 
even attacked by those who favored slavery. Only 
brave women would belong to such a society. 

When the anti-slavery believers opened a new 
building in Philadelphia for their meetings, it ex- 
9 



130 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

cited the rage of their enemies. The building, Penn- 
sylvania Hall, was burned by a mob. The mayor 
would do nothing to prevent the deed. An excited 
crowd then marched through the streets, threatening 
also to burn the houses of the abolitionists. 

The house of James Mott, the husband of Lucretia, 
was situated on Ninth Street above Race. It was one 
of those most natural for the mob to attack. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mott, though warned of the danger, refused to 
leave their home. Their eldest son watched in the 
street, and at last ran in, crying "They're coming!" 

All could plainly hear the shouts of the crowd 
pouring along Race Street, and all expected that the 
house would soon be on fire, yet the courageous 
family would not run away. To their great surprise, 
instead of turning the corner, the mob passed on up 
Race Street. This was due to a young man, friendly 
to the family, who, when the crowd reached the corner, 
raised the cry "On to Mott's!" and led them past. 
The rioters satisfied their rage by burning a home 
for colored orphans, and did not return. 

Such dangers as these failed to daunt the spirit of 
Lucretia Mott. Her husband approved the part 
she took, and not being a ready speaker, was entirely 
satisfied that she should be the more prominent mem- 
ber of the household. She therefore continued her 
efiPorts to arouse the nation's feeling against slavery. 

A few years later, when the New York meeting of 
the Anti-Slavery Society was broken up by roughs, 



LUCRETIA MOTT 



131 



several of the speakers, as tliey stepped out of the 
hall, were ill-treated and beaten by the crowd around 
the door. Lucretia Mott, who was there, was es- 
corted out by a gentleman, but seeing that some of the 
other ladies were frightened, she asked her friend to 
leave her and take care of the others. 



}??i"lipL^forc( 




THIS MAN WILL SEE ME SAFE THROUGH. 



''Who will look after you!" asked her escort. Lu- 
cretia laid her hand on the arm of one of the roughest 
in the mob, saying, ''This man will see me safe 
through." Pleased by this mark of confidence, the 
reckless man did as she asked and took her to safety. 

Fugitive Slaves. — The home of the Motts was 
always open for the relief of poor colored persons, 
and they helped also in sending fugitive slaves far- 



132 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ther north. One of these slaves was shipjDed hy ex- 
press from Richmond, Virginia, in a hox about two 
feet square and three feet high. He remained in these 
close quarters for twenty-four hours, part of which 
time he was upside down. Such hardships slaves 
were willing to undergo to gain their freedom. 

One day, as Mr. and Mrs. Mott sat at home, they 
heard the hooting of a crowd. Mr. Mott went to the 
door to learn the cause. It was a poor colored man 
who was i)ursued by the mob. He knew the friendly 
home, rushed into the o\)eii door, ran through the 
house and out at the back, thus escaping from his 
enemies. 

Mr. Mott stood at the door to keei^ back the crowd. 
As he stood there, someone hurled a brick at him. It 
missed him, but deeply marked the door directly over 
his head. Had the blow struck Mr. Mott it would 
have been fatal. Such dangerous experiences were 
common in those days when the passions of the sym- 
pathizer's with slavery were excited against all 
negroes. 

In the year of John Brown's raid on Harper's 
Ferry, a colored man named Dangerfield was seized 
on a farm near Harrisburg, on the charge of being a 
fugitive slave. He was brought, handcutfed, to Phila- 
delphia, to stand trial. If it were decided that he had 
actually run away from his master, the Fugitive Slave 
Law would compel him to be returned to slavery. 

The abolitionists engaged a famous lawyer to de- 



LUCRETIA MOTT 133 

fend the negro. Lucretia Mott sat near the prisoner 
during the trial. The chief hiwyer on the opposite 
side feared her influence so much that he asked to 
have her removed from that prominent place. 
Finally, largely through Mrs. Mott's means, Danger- 
field was released. 

Outside the court-room a mob collected, threaten- 
ing to seize Dangerfield and deliver him over to his 
former master; but a band of young men, mostly 
Quakers, deceived a crowd by accompanying another 
colored man to a carriage. Dangerfield meanwhile 
walked off to safety in another direction. 

Experience on a Horse-Car. Freeing of the Slaves. — 
In Lucretia Mott's time there were no trolley-cars, 
and persons wishing to travel about the city had to 
use the slow horse-cars. The Fifth Street line re- 
served every fifth car for negroes. If any negroes 
boarded other cars on that line they were forced to 
stand on the platforms. Mrs. Mott was once riding 
in a Fifth Street car on a very stormy day, when a 
respectable but sickly colored woman entered. The 
conductor sent her to stand on the platform, exposed 
to the cold rain. 

Lucretia Mott vainly appealed to the conductor to 
let the woman come inside the car. Then Mrs. Mott 
went out and stood beside the woman. The other pas- 
sengers, ashamed to see such an old lady standing in 
the storm, objected so strongly that the conductor 
asked Mrs. Mott to come in. '*! cannot come with- 



134 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

out this woman," she replied. "Oh, well, bring her 
in, then," growled the perplexed official. Soon after- 
ward, the company issued an order that colored per- 
sons should be allowed to ride inside any car on that 
line. 

Finally Lucretia Mott and her friends, who had 
worked so long and so hard for the welfare of the 
slave, were rejoiced to see the negroes all free. The 
dreadful Civil War, disastrous as it was in many ways 
to the country, settled tlie question of slavery. Soon 
the negroes were citizens and voters, by the Four- 
teenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. 

There was still much to be done after the war 
to help the "freedmen," who scarcely knew what to 
do with their liberty. Mrs. Mott remained a hard 
worker for their cause all through her life. She lived 
till she was almost ninety years old. At her funeral, 
which thousands attended, the proceedings were 
mostly in silence. At last some one said, "Will no 
one speak?" The answer came back: "Who can 
speak now? The preacher is dead." 

Lucretia Mott's influence still lives, however. 
More is being done to help the negro than ever before. 
How glad she would be now to view such institutions 
as Tuskegee in Alabama (conducted by Dr. Booker 
T. Washington) and Hampton Institute in Virginia, 
where young colored persons are taught the occupa- 
tions in which they can render the best service to 
themselves and to their country. 



MATTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN. 

1 795-1866. 

BUILDER OF LOCOMOTIVES. 

" God has given me great opportunities for doing good, but 
the disposition to do good is something still better." 

The Ingenious Boy. — Mr. Baldwin, a carriage- 
maker of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was an excellent 
workman. His skill brought 
good returns, and at his death 
it seemed that the widow and 
her five children would be well- 
to-do. Mistakes on the part of 
those who managed the prop- 
erty, however, caused the loss 
of nearly all. Mrs. Baldwin 
found it hard to support her 
family, but, like so many other 
mothers thus left in poverty, she worked with dili- 
gence and managed to accomplish it. 

The youngest child, Matthias, was but four years 
old when his father died. As he grew up the mother 
found that the father's skill with tools had descended 
to the son. Matthias made most of his toys, and took 
apart those that were given him in order to see how 
they were constructed. 

Although he littered the floors with his chips and 

135 




MATTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN. 



136 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

materials, the wise mother encouraged liim to become 
skilful in this wa}^ Matthias returned this kindness 
by making many little devices to lighten his mother's 
work. A machine of any kind drew his close study — 
indeed, ]\Iatthias paid much more attention to ma- 
chinery than to books. In the light of after events, 
who can blame him! 

Matthias and the Shingle. — Mrs. Baldwin watched 
with careful eye her boy's character. She knew that 
her duty did not stop with providing for his bodily 
welfare. As Matthias with a friend was coming home 
from school one day, they passed a pile of white pine 
shingles. White pine made such good material for 
carving that each boy took one. 

The mother found that her son had taken a shingle 
without leave. She did not think that, because it was 
a trifling article, the matter should be passed over. 
Matthias had to take back the shingle and ask the 
owner's forgiveness. Such care on his mother's part 
gave Matthias Baldwin his sterling honesty in later 
life. 

The Jewelers' Apprentice. — At the age of sixteen 
Matthias became an apprentice to a firm of .jewelers 
in Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia. With one 
of his employers he made his home for the five years 
during which he was 'Mjound to the trade." He was 
a steady youth. The young men of the town thought 
him peculiar because he refused to touch any strong 
drink, but Matthias had known one drunkard among 



MATTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN 137 

his own relatives. He made up his determined mind 
that he would not throw away his manhood thus. 

Matthias had few pleasures, and those simple ones. 
From singing-school in the little Presbyterian church 
he was never absent. Often, after work, he would 
wander out of the town to some high ground at Wis- 
feinoming, whence he could look across the marshes to 
the Delaware. As he watched the evening scene, did 
dreams of future fame ever come to the poor appren- 
tice? Perhaps they did; at any rate, he never forgot 
that spot. 

Work in Philadelphia. — When the youth reached 
twenty-one he found work with jewelers on Chestnut 
Street, Philadelphia. The firm employed many work- 
men. Some of these looked on their daily tasks as so 
much unwelcome labor to be disposed of as soon as 
possible; but young Baldwin loved his occupation. 

Every day, as he returned from the shop, Baldwin 
directed his steps past the windows of art-stores 
where he could enjoy the paintings and engravings, 
for he had a keen love for the beautiful in art. His 
employers noticed not only his industry, but also his 
delight in making objects that needed taste and skill. 
Therefore such orders were mostly entrusted to him. 

In many ways the young man seemed old before 
his time. His habits were regular, his pleasures quiet, 
and although cheerful, he inclined to silence. When 
Baldwin had once decided what was right, speech to 
the contrary proved vain. 



138 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Once a fellow-workman claimed as liis own a tool 
which Baldwin was using. The latter looked it over 
with great care. ''That is mine," he said at last. 
His companion began a long argument. Baldwin 
uttered never a word, but quietly continued his work. 
Then the other tried to take the tool by force, but 
soon found that the silent one would defend his con- 
viction. The tool stayed in Baldwin's keeping. 

Baldwin the Machinist. Founding of the FrankHn 
Institute. — For two happy years Baldwin worked for 
his Philadelphia employers. His wages were good, 
he saved money, and at last set up for himself as a 
jeweler. Business proved bad, and he with a partner 
began to make the machines and tools used by book- 
binders. They branched out into making other 
machines of Baldwin's invention, and prospered. 

The new establishment employed a number of 
young men. Baldwin felt that these needed some 
place where they could get instruction in science and 
mechanical art, so that they might become more in- 
telligent and inventive. He talked over the matter 
with many other employers, and the result was the 
founding of the Franklin Institute (1824) which is on 
Seventh Street below Market, and which still offers 
evening instruction to young workmen. 

Steam-Engines. — The firm of Mason and Baldwin 
were so successful that they moved to a larger shop, 
and there found that their old machines, run by the 
hand or foot, would no longer serve. More power for 



MATTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN 139 

operating was needed. After a vain experiment with 
using a horse on a treadmill, they bought a stationary 
steam-engine. Steam was then just beginning to be 
widely introduced into factories. 

Although the new engine was the best which the 
firm could buy, it did not please Baldwin. He set to 
work and, helped by his knowledge of the engine's 
weak points, made a much better one, which was al- 
most noiseless. The opening door of the shop hid it 
from view, so that visitors, hearing and seeing noth- 
ing that showed them any source of power, often 
inquired what ran the machines. 

Soon the main business of the firm consisted in 
making the new Baldwin kind of stationary engines. 
One day a stranger came to see Baldwin. He stated 
frankly that he intended to make such engines. 
''Will you tell me," he asked, ''where you get your 
iron and what firm makes your boilers!" This was 
important information, and most men would not have 
given it to a rival. Baldwin without objection gen- 
erously told the stranger. ' ' There is room enough in 
the trade for us both," said he. This was so true 
that Baldwin's timid partner left him, through fear 
that the growing business would risk too much capital. 

The Locomotive. — At this time steam had not been 
applied to travel in the United States. George Steph- 
enson, however, had made the locomotive suc- 
cessful in England. In 1830 the Camden and Amboy 
Railroad Company brought across the ocean a loco- 



140 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



motive, which was kept hidden from public eye imtil 
it should be used. Franklin Peale, who owned the 
Philadelphia Museum, where up-to-date novelties 
were shown, wished to have a small working locomo- 
tive to exhibit. How should he get one? He turned 
to the most ingenious person he knew — Matthias 
Baldwin. 

J 




I CAN MAKE IT, HE CRIED. 



The two men found 
out where the imported 
locomotive was kept, and 
visited the place. By the 
use of much persuasion, 
and perhaps a little 
money, they obtained from the man in charge per- 
mission to view the wonder. Baldwin inspected every 
part, made a few secret measurements, then crept 
under it. Half an hour later he crawled out with 
beaming face, "I can make it!" he cried. 

He did make the model. It ran on a track through 



]VL\TTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN 141 

the rooms of the Museum, pulling two cars that on 
a pinch would hold sixteen people. Crowds witnessed 
the marvel. The Philadelphia and Germantown Rail- 
road, a new affair, which had drawn its cars by horses, 
now ordered a real locomotive from Baldwin. He 
drew the plans and finished the locomotive in six 
months. It was lighter, smaller, but more powerful 
than the English engines, and was called the Iron- 
sides. 

The president of the railroad company, however, 
had meanwhile repented of the bargain. He had 
little confidence in the good qualities of the purchase. 
The wheels had a habit of slipping when the rails 
were wet, for the sand-box had not then been invented. 
Therefore the company advertised that the locomo- 
tive would run only in fair weather. On rainy days 
the horses again came into use. 

Only one man in Baldwin's shop, beside the inven- 
tor himself, could properly run the Ironsides. This 
man unfortunately fell sick at the time, and those 
who took his place could not get the engine to run 
well. The president of the road threatened to throw 
it back on Baldwin's hands. At last the skilful en- 
gineer recovered, the locomotive gave satisfaction, 
and Baldwin received his money. He was so dis- 
gusted with all the complaints, however, that he de- 
clared, ''That is our last locomotive." Men have 
been known to change their minds. When he died, his 
works had built fifteen hundred locomotives. 



142 NOTED PENNSYLVANIA'S 

Financial Troubles. — By 1835 Baldwin had finished 
nine or ten of the new engines. He moved his works 
to Broad and Hamilton Streets and soon confined 
himself to this one line of mannfacture. His business 
grew fast, and, like every man of large affairs, he had 
to borrow money to meet this increase. 

The panic of 1837, caused by President Jackson's 
foolish financial policy, caused creditors to call for 
their money. Difficulties grew thick in Baldwin's 
path. He could not meet the demands. Troubles 
made him sleepless, yet he used the wakeful hours of 
darkness to invent improvements on his locomotives. 

One morning, after he had just thought out one 
great improvement which would give safety in round- 
ing curves at high speed, he found posted on his works 
a notice of sheriff's sale. Undismayed, he held up 
before his workman the roll of drawings for the new 
invention, and exclaimed, "Here is something which 
will defy the sheriff!" 

For the time he could not defy his creditors, nor 
did he wish to do so. He called a meeting of all 
whom he owed. "Gentlemen," said Baldwin, "my 
whole property is yours. It cannot satisfy my debts ; 
but if you wish to sell me out, you may. If, how- 
ever, you will leave me in control of the business, I 
will pay you the full amount, with interest." Know- 
ing that they were dealing with an honest m.an, the 
creditors accepted the latter plan. In five years 
Baldwin had discharged every dollar of debt. 



MATTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN 143 

Charities. Baldwin and the Negroes. — After be- 
coming "free," as he said, Baldwin soon became a rich 
man. Railroads were fast extending over the eastern 
United States, and Baldwin could scarcely turn out 
enough locomotives to fill his orders. Yet this wealth 
did not turn his head, or make him selfish. 

He had always been charitable toward poverty and 
a liberal contributor to all objects of his church. 
Often, when he had no ready money, and was called 
upon by charity, he signed notes to pay at some future 
time. Now out of Ms wealth he gave large sums 
toward founding new churches. To begin one church 
Baldwin secured a hall, fitted it up, paid the min- 
ister's salary for two years, and donated a lot on 
Broad Street for the church building. 

Baldwin was a staunch friend to the negro, even 
at a time when few persons in Philadelphia were on 
that side. Behind his house on Tenth Street was an 
alley where colored families lived. They were poor, 
and the children were growing up in ignorance. 
Baldwin hired some rooms, opened a little school, paid 
teachers, and persuaded the children to come. There 
was a place in his heart for all those whom others 
neglected. 

As early as 1837, when Baldwin took part in the 
convention to frame a new constitution for the State, 
he voted to give the right of the ballot to every 
negro who was fit for it. 

A negro applied for employment at the Baldwin 



144 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Locomotive Works. He was put into tlie boiler shop, 
whose foreman hated negroes. This foreman was a 
valuable man and knew that Baldwin would find it 
hard to fill his place. He therefore was bold enough 
to appear before Baldwin and ask that the negro be 
discharged, 

"Certainly," replied his employer, "if he is not 
a good hand he shall be discharged on the spot." 

"Well, he is a good hand enough," said the fore- 
man. 

"Then what is your objection to him?" 

"He is a nigger, and either he must leave, or I 
will." 

"Pack up, then," answered Baldwin, "and be off 
with you." 

The foreman went, but the negro stayed as long 
as he lived. 

Another firm which manufactured locomotives 
thought to hurt Baldwin's trade in the South. It sent 
out notices to the railroads there that Baldwin 
favored giving the negro a vote. This did prevent 
him from getting many orders, and the work went 
to the rival firm. The firm, however, fell into its own 
trap. The Civil War began, and the Southerners 
never paid for their locomotives. 

During the war, the Sanitary Commission was 
organized to take care of the soldiers in the field. 
It ministered to both mind and l)ody. Baldwin was 
one of those who directed the affairs of the Com- 



MATTHIAS WILLIAM BALDWIN 145 

mission, with regard to Philadelphia, throughout the 
entire war. 

Baldwin's Homes. — On the very spot of high ground 
where as a poor apprentice he had loved to go to view 
the river at sunset, Baldwin built a mansion. The 
marshes were made into a garden. A high embank- 
ment faced the river, but the tides were allowed to 
pass through this into ponds. As they flowed and 
ebbed, Baldwin's cleverness made them pump water 
for the buildings. Here he spent the summer months. 

A couple of years before liis death, the locomotive 
builder had occasion to move to a new city home. To 
the wonder of his friends he bought a large old-fash- 
ioned house in a busy part of Chestnut Street. ''Why 
should I banish myself from my fellow-creatures!" 
he said. "I have tried to live for their good, and 
should I run away from them in my old age? I want 
to see the world and have them see the things I enjoy, 
if it will afford them any pleasure or instruction." 

To carry out this kind intention, Baldwin allowed 
the public to view the fine paintings he had collected. 
No one who asked to "see the pictures" was ever re- 
fused. In the winter his musical evenings were 
open to any who enjoyed the works of the greatest 
composers. "If they love to hear good music, they 
are all friends of mine," said Baldwin. 

The rarest feature of the mansion, however, was 
the conservatory, which faced upon Chestnut Street. 
Its glass was kept clear, and everything was arranged 

10 



146 NOTED PENXSYLVANIANS 

SO as to be seen from the sidewalk to good advantage. 
From morning to night crowds stopped to look at the 
blooming plants and ripening tropical fruits. Many 
at first thought that Baldwin meant to advertise these 
products for sale. The servants were kept busy an- 
swering the bell for those who wished to buy. The 
public found that this man asked no pay except the 
pleasure of the public. 

Old Age. — From the cares of business (to which 
he attended until the last) Baldwin found recreation 
in exercising his old-time mechanical skill. In a cor- 
ner of his office at the works he kept the little vise, the 
lathe, and the delicate tools which he had used in the 
jewelry business. Here in his spare moments he 
mended watches and ornaments. No small piece of 
work came amiss to his busy hands. 

One day in June, 1866, the old man of over seventy 
years came to his office and took up his beloved tools, 
but dropped them again. Pain from disease had 
overcome his strength. That afternoon he left the 
establishment and went back to Wissinoming to die. 
Philadelphia will always be proud of having had 
Matthias Baldwin as a citizen. She admires his suc- 
cess but still more she honors his character. His 
statue now faces the great locomotive works which 
he founded. Tlie '' Baldwin" locomotives are sent 
all over the world. Sixteen thousand men are em- 
ployed in making them. Baldwin's genius was the 
foundation of this wonderful growth. 



BAYARD TAYLOR. 

1825-1878. 
POET AND TRAVELLER. 

Bayard's Head. — One day in the sumnier of 1839 a 
doctor from Philadelphia lectured in the town of 
West Chester. From the formation of one's head the 
doctor claimed to determine 
his character and talents. The 
morning after, the lecturer, in 
company with a friend, visited 
the jail. By permission of Sher- 
iff Taylor, he examined the 
heads of many of the prisoners 
in order to determine how nearly 
his judgment answered to their 
lives. 

Finally the visitors entered 

BAYARD TAYLOR. 

the sheriff's office. There a 

lank, long-legged, half-grown boy was seated on a 
high stool. The sheriff said : "There is my son; what 
do you think of him ? I intend to make a farmer out 
of him. Do you think he is fitted for it ?' ' 

The doctor examined the youth's head, then re- 
marked : ' ' You will never make a farmer of him to 
any great extent ; you will never keep him home ; that 
boy will ramble around the world, and furthermore, 
he has all the marks of a poet." The sheriff was 

147 




148 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

greatly amused at such a prediction; but the state- 
ments came true. 

Youth of Taylor.— This boy, Bayard Taylor, was 
born at Kennett Square, a village among the beautiful 
lands of Chester County. His father at that time was 
a farmer, and brought Bayard up to farm life; but 
the boy disliked the labor. Like Elisha Kane, whom 
he knew in later life, he loved to roam about and to 
observe nature. ''Almost my first recollection," he 
wrote, "is of a swamp, into which I went bare-legged 
at morning, and out of which I came, when driven by 
hunger, with long stockings of black mud, and a mask 
of the same." 

Bayard loved books as much as he loved the great 
out-doors. When but four years old he had learned 
to read well. At seven, he was copying down the 
poems of Sir Walter Scott and writing poetry of his 
own. Often the father became angry because of his 
son's neglect of farm work in order to make time for 
his beloved reading. 

At seventeen, Bayard Taylor had grown to be a 
most attractive young man. He was six feet tall, 
healthy, straight, and strong. His face was hand- 
some, his eyes dark, and his hair curling. Polite and 
winning manners secured him many friends then and 
in after years. 

Finding that Bayard could not be induced to take 
an interest in the farm, his father apprenticed him 
to a West Chester printer. There was opportunity 



BAYARD TAYLOR 149 

for study in this new life, and the lad made the most 
of his chances. As he intended some day to see for- 
eign countries, much of his time was spent on German 
and Spanish. 

Taylor Begins His Travels. — At nineteen he pub- 
lished a little book of x^oems. The book did not 
amount to much, but it brought him into notice with 
some of the Philadelphia i)ublishers. Bayard made 
up his mind to apply to travel the money which he 
hoped to receive. While arranging for the publishing 
of the book, he several times walked the whole dis- 
tance between Kennett Square and Philadelphia, 
about thirty miles. 

On these lonely trips he frequently debated with 
himself whether it were best for him to leave his 
family in order to see the world. One night, while 
thus walking and thinking, an inward voice seemed to 
tell him that his conduct was right. Thenceforward 
he had no more doubts. The world would have been 
deprived of many delightful and instructive pages if 
he had stayed at home. 

How was this poor boy to gain enough money to 
travel abroad? He did not know, but felt sure that 
in some way it would be provided. With his savings. 
Bayard bought freedom from his apprenticeship. 
This left him penniless, yet he had courage enough to 
fix a date only two weeks ahead for departure to 
Europe. There was no chance to raise money in West 
Chester; ot¥ he walked again to Philadelphia and 



150 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



spent two or three days calling upon the principal 
editors and publishers. 

At last the editor of the ' ' Saturday Evening Post ' ' 
offered to pay Bayard fifty dollars for twelve letters 
describing his travels. Another editor made the same 
arrangement, and a third bought some poems. With 
one hundred and forty dollars in his pocket, the young 
man returned in triumph to Kennett Square. 




BAYARD TAYLOR AND HIS COUSIN WALKING TO WASHINGTON. 



Finding that it was necessary to secure a passport 
in order to travel abroad, Bayard and his cousin, 
who was to accompany him, thought that a trip to 
Washington would be required to get the passport. 
They had little money to spare on travelling by rail- 
road or stage, so set out and walked most of the way, 
arriving very dusty and footsore. In Washington 
their Representative in Congress presented them to 



BAYARD TAYLOR 151 

John C. Calliouii and John Quincy Adams, who en- 
couraged them in their intention. 

Another young man joined Bayard and his cousin 
in their trip. This was in 184-4, before the comfort- 
able steamships of to-day liad come into being. Their 
vessel was small and poorly fitted up. The three 
occupied the "second cabin." For the sum of ten 
dollars each, they were allowed a rough berth of 
planks— nothing else. Even provisions and bedding 
had to be furnished by the travellers. 

" Views Afoot." — Bayard had now embarked on the 
long series of travels of which this was the first. For 
two years he roamed about Europe, seeing various 
countries in the best way, that is, mostly by walking. 
He visited England, France, Germany, Italy, He 
learned foreign languages in the best way, by living 
in the homes of the people and staying at modest inns, 
where no speech except that of the country could be 
understood. Poverty opposed no bar to his journeys. 
Six cents a day, spent in bread, figs, and roasted 
chestnuts, sometimes supplied his needs. 

His twenty-first birthday came while he was living 
by the Italian shore of the blue Mediterranean, where 
he had in boyhood so often longed to wander. He was 
a man now ; two years of travel had given him expe- 
rience and taught him self-reliance. He had endured 
many discomforts, but had gained much by his en- 
durance. 

From the tour he returned ''with rich eyes but 



152 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

poor bands." His letters to various journals had 
paid his way, but nothing more. These letters he now 
collected into a book, which was published under the 
same name "Views Afoot." It proved very popu- 
lar. Longfellow wrote to him, ''How could you ac- 
complish so much with such slight help?" Whittier 
read a published poem of Taylor's and copied it into 
the paper which he was then conducting. Bayard 
Taylor's name had now become known. 

After some doubt as to his career, Taylor decided 
to try to make a living in New York by his writing. 
He went there, worked hard, gained friends, and in 
a year stood well in estimation. His work was mostly 
for newspapers, but when that was done he turned 
to writing poetry as a rest and as his true occupation. 
Fifteen hours a day he often labored, realizing that 
idleness would bring no returns. 

In New York he became acquainted with George 
Henry Boker and Thomas Buchanan Read. Taylor 
wrote a poem to Boker to show liis great friendship. 
Read, who was a painter as well as a poet, put Bayard 
into a picture, with broad hat and Alpine staff, and 
behind him the mountains. 

Further Travels. — When the ''gold fever" sent 
multitudes rushing to California, Horace Greeley, the 
editor of the New York "Tribune," chose Bayard 
Taylor as the best person to tell Eastern readers 
what was happening in the West. Taylor went by way 
of the Isthmus of Panama, and spent nearly half a 



BAYAED TAYLOR 153 

year in California, sending frequent letters to the 
'' Tribune." He lived almost entirely out-doors, 
sleeping on the ground with his saddle for a pillow. 
"It is so delicious," he said, "to fall asleep with the 
stars above you." This he wrote to Mary Agnew, 
a beautiful girl whom he had known in school, and 
to whom he was now engaged. 

After his return he worked hard to provide a 
home for his intended wife. Mary Agnew, however, 
was of delicate health. She seemed to improve for 
awhile, and the marriage took place. Two months 
later she died, and the young husband was bowed with 
grief. Nothing now existed to keep him in America, 
and he arranged another journey abroad. 

For over ten years Taylor remained away from 
home, travelling through Oriental lands. He visited 
Japan with Commodore Perry's expedition. A trip 
to Egypt, and travels far up the Nile, excited the 
curiosity of the many persons who read his letters to 
the "Tribune," for African exploration was then a 
topic of great interest. Every person of education 
in the United States knew, by this time, of Bayard 
Taylor, the great traveller in strange countries. His 
pictures appeared showing him in Eastern dress, for 
he felt at home in the Orient and adopted the clothing, 
as well as the language, of the people. 

Bayard Taylor had now found his career — to 
travel and to write of his travels. The language which 
he used was clear and fine, and in addition to produc- 



154 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ing prose lie used liis gift of poetry. When he re- 
turned from the Orient, it was found that many de- 
sired to hear- him as a lecturer; so Taylor travelled 
much ahout the country, and added by his speeches 
to the fame which his writings had created. 

Cedarcroft. — Money came in rapidly, and he soon 
was able to buy a large tract of land near Kennett 
Square, where he built a great house, called, from its 
belt of trees, "Cedarcroft." While "Cedarcroft" 
was rising, Taylor travelled far in Europe again, but 
ever looked forward to the time when he could inhabit 
the comfortable mansion among the scenes of his boy- 
hood, where his parents might dwell and his friends 
be entertained. 

Only fifteen years before, Bayard Taylor had gone 
forth as a poor boy to see the world. Now he had 
gained fame and money in large amount. How 
quickly success had come! Yet it was gained and 
kept by great perseverance and tremendous work. 
No one without excellent health and tireless energy 
could have endured the strain of constant travelling, 
lecturing, and writing. 

At Cedarcroft, Taylor now wrote a novel which 
has made famous that region of Pennsylvania. It 
was a story of that very country in which he lived 
and of characters who had lived there also. The tale 
was "The Story of Kennett." Although Bayard 
Taylor produced other novels, this is liis best. 

Of the home at Cedarcroft Taylor said in his 



BAYARD TAYLOR 155 

l^oems, using the same meter in which Longfellow 
had written '' Evangeline": 

Here will I seek my songs in the quiet fields of my boyhood, 
Here where the peaceful tent of home is i^itehed for a season. 

Here the hawthorn blossoms, the breeze is blithe in the orchards, 
Winds from the Chesapeake dull the sharper edge of the winters. 
Letting the cypress live, and the mounded box, and the holly; 
Here the chestnuts fall, and the cheeks of peaches are crimson, 
North and South are as one in the blended growth of the region. 

Cedarcroft, however, brought anxiety as well as 
pleasure. The expense of keeping up such a house 
was great. Crops failed, debts piled up, and at last 
Bayard Taylor rented out the i)lace and went back to 
work in New York. There he lived for a number of 
years, travelling no more to lands afar, but always 
busy with writing. 

Longfellow's Tribute. — Finally Taylor was ap- 
pointed Minister to Germany. Although over fifty 
years old and broken down by overwork, he accei)tod, 
for the honor pleased him, as well as the chance of 
returning to a country which he loved and where he 
had many friends. His health did not improve, and 
at last, seated in his library in Berlin, he peacefully 
passed away. All the poets he had known and loved 
paid tributes to his memory. Longfellow beautifully 
wrote of his old friend : 

Dead he lay among- his books ! 
The peace of God was in his looks. 

Traveller! in what realms afar. 
In what planet, in wdiat star, 



156 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

In what vast aerial space 
Shines the light upon thy face? 



to-night? 



In what gardens of deli 
Rest thy weary feet to-i 

Friend ! but yesterday the bells 
Rang for thee their loud farewells. 

And to-day they toll for thee 
Lying dead beyond the sea. 

Lying dead among thy books, 

The peace of God in all thy looks! 



A NIGHT'S LODGING IN GERMANY. 
FROM "VIEWS AFOOT." 

The ghostly, dark and echoing castle of an inn 
(the Black Eagle) where I stopped was enough to 
inspire a lonely traveller like myself with unpleasant 
fancies. It looked heavy and massive enough to have 
been a stout baron's stronghold in some former cen- 
tury; the taciturn landlord and his wife, who, witli 
a solemn servant-girl, were the only tenants, had 
grown into perfect keeping with its gloomy char- 
acter. When I grojied my way under the heavy 
arched portal into the guests' room — a large, lofty, 
cheerless hall — all was dark, and I could barely per- 
ceive, by the little light which came through two 
deep-set windows, the inmates of the house sitting 
on opposite sides of the room. After some delay, the 
hostess brought a light. I entreated her to bring me 
something instantly for supper, and in half an hour 



BAYARD TAYLOR 157 

she placed a mixture ou the table the like of which I 
never wish to taste again. She called it "beer-soup." 
I found, on examination, it was beer boiled with meat 
and seasoned strongly with pepper and salt. My 
hunger disappeared, and, pleading fatigue as an ex- 
cuse for want of appetite, I left the table. 

When I was ready to retire, the landlady, who 
had been sitting silently in a dark corner, called the 
solemn servant-girl, who took up a dim lamp and bade 
me follow her to the ' ' sleeping-chamber. ' ' Taking up 
my knapsack and staff, I stumbled down the steps 
into the arched gateway ; before me was a long, damp, 
deserted court-yard, across which the girl took her 
way. I followed her with some astonishment, imag- 
ining where the sleeping-chamber could be, when she 
stopped at a small one-story building standing alone 
in the yard. Opening the door with a rusty key, she 
led me into a bare room a few feet square, opening 
into another, equally bare with the exception of a 
rough bed. "Certainly," said I, "I am not to sleep 
here?" "Yes," she answered; "this is the sleeping- 
chamber," at the same time setting down the light 
and disappearing. 

I examined the place; it smelt mouldy, and the 
walls were cold and damp. There had been a window 
at the head of the bed, but it was walled up, and 
that at the foot was also closed to within a few inches 
of the top. The bed was coarse and dirty, and on 
turning down the ragged covers I saw with horror 



158 NOTED FENNSYLVANIANS 

a dark-brown stain near the pillow, like that of blood. 
For a moment I hesitated whether to steal out of the 
inn and seek another lodging, late as it was; at last, 
overcoming my fears, I threw my clothes into a heap 
and lay down, placing my heavy staff at the head of 
the bed. Persons passed np and down the court-yard 
several times, the light of their lamps streaming 
through the narrow aperture up against the ceiling, 
and I distinctly heard voices which seemed to be near 
the door. Twice did I sit up in bed, breathless, with 
my hand on the cane, in the most intense anxiety; 
but fatigue finally overcame suspicion, and I sank into 
a deep sleep, from which I was gladly awakened by 
daylight. In reality, there may have been no cause 
for my fears — I may have wronged the lonely inn- 
keepers by them; but certainly no place or circum- 
stances ever seemed to me more appropriate to a deed 
of robbery or crime. I left immediately; and when a 
turn in the street hid the ill-omened front of the inn, 
I began to breathe with my usual freedom. 



THE AVALANCHE. 
THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 

The laden tempest wildly broke 

O'er roaring chasms, rattling- cliffs, 

And on the pathway piled the drifts ; 

And every gust was like a wolf, — 
And there was one at every cloak, — 

That, snarling, dragged toward the gulf. 
The staggering mule scarce kept his pace, 

With ears thrown back and shouldei-s l)owed; 
The surest guide could barely trace 

The difference 'twixt earth and cloud; 
And every form, from foot to face, 

Was in a winding-sheet of snow; 

The wind — 'twas like a voice of woe 
That howled above their burial-place. 
And now, to crown their fears, a roar 
Like ocean battling with the shore, 
Or like that sound which night and day 
Breaks through Niagara's veil of spray, 
From some great height within the cloud, 

To some immeasured valley driven. 
Swept down, and with a roar so loud 

It seemed as it would shatter heaven! 
The bravest quailed; it swept so near 

It made the ruddiest cheek to blanch, 
While look replied to look in feai*, 

" The avalanche ! The avalanche ! " 
It forced the foremost to recoil 

Before its sideward billows thi-own. 
Who cried, " God! Here ends our toil! 

The path is overswept and gone ! " 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 

1822-1872. 

PATRIOT OF MANY GIFTS. 

The Young Artist. — In the beautiful Chester Val- 
ley, near Downingtown, lived a farmer-boy, Thomas 
Buchanan Read, a delicate, slender, fair-haired lad. 
He loved the scenes of nature which surrounded his 
home. When he grew to manhood he wrote a poem, 
in which he said of his old home : 

Here my young muse first learned to love and dream, 

To love the simplest blossom by the road, 

To dream such dreams as will not eome again ; 

And for one hour of that unlettered time 

I would exchange, thrice told, this weary day. 

When the boy was but fifteen years old, his father 
died. The family broke up, and 
Thomas accompanied a married 
sister to Cincinnati, which was 
then (1837) regarded by Eastern 
people as being in the far West. 
In Cincinnati Thomas began to 
earn his own living. 

At seventeen he secured a posi- 
tion as helper to a sculptor. It 
was work congenial to Read's 
disposition. By nature he loved 
everything beautiful, and wished to create beautiful 
things. In the workshop of the sculptor the young 
man learned to model in clay and carve from marble. 

160 




THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ 161 

Soon Read discovered that lie possessed a talent 
for painting, and forsook sculpture for that art. 
Eead's pleasant manners and happy disposition had 
already secured to him many friends among promi- 
nent citizens, who gave him orders for a number of 
pictures. General William Henry Harrison, who was 
then a candidate for President, ordered a portrait 
from the young painter. 

Read, however, was not satisfied to stay in Cin- 
cinnati. The Western city lacked many of the ad- 
vantages for art and education which could be enjoyed 
in the East. As soon as he had saved money enough 
he moved to Boston. 

Read's Friends. — One of the best artists of Boston, 
Washington Allston, became interested in Read and 
his work. Mr. Allston found that although the nine- 
teen-year-old painter possessed great talent, he was 
modest and anxious to learn. Allston, therefore, did 
all in his power to encourage Read and advise him. 

Another valuable friend came to Read through a 
different channel. The young man had always en- 
joyed poetry, but now he found that he was able to 
write true poetry himself. Many of these poems he 
published in a Boston newspaper. They attracted 
the notice of Longfellow, who lived in Cambridge, a 
suburb of Boston, and was a professor in Harvard 
University. 

Longfellow recognized the beauty of Read's 
poems. When the two poets met, one fam-ous and one 
11 



162 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

still unknown to the country at large, Longfellow, 
laying his hand on Bead's shoulder, said kindly, 
* ' Sing away ! In the near future the public will find 
you out." The friendship between the two remained 
unbroken until Bead's death. Bead painted a group 
of Longfellow's three children, calling it "The Morn- 
ing Glories." 

Read in Italy. — It is seldom that a person can win 
fame in both poetry and painting, but Bead accom- 
plished this. When he was twenty-five he issued his 
first book of poems, and followed it by another the 
next year. Meanwhile he continued to paint, ever 
striving to do better work. Some of his friends ad- 
vised him to go to Italy, where the best of the world's 
art could be studied, and gave him commissions to 
paint i^ictures for them. 

Bead, accordingly, sailed for Europe in 1850. In 
England he met many famous men ; then he proceeded 
to Italy. There most of his time was spent for the 
next ten years. His home in Florence was delightful, 
with a large walled garden filled with flowers, grape- 
arbors, and lemon and orange trees, where the night- 
ingales sang at eve. 

Success did not come without hard work. This 
was his daily plan as told by one who knew him: 

''He goes to bed betimes, and is awake with the 
birds. At four o'clock, summer and winter, he is 
at his desk, writes until seven, then breakfasts and 
goes to his studio. In winter he paints all day and 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ 163 

returns home to dine at dusk. His wife reads aloud 
to him until nine o'clock, when he goes to bed. At 
the head of his bed, fastened to the wall, is a large 
slate, a pencil hanging on a cord beside it. In the 
night — for Eead is a light sleeper — the slate is at 
hand to use for quick passing thoughts and fancies." 

Poems and Paintings. — Read had long wished to 
write a truly American poem, and at this time he 
finished the ''New Pastoral," which he called "the 
greatest theme left for an American to do." This 
beautiful poem tells of a country family living near 
the Susquehanna, who are seized with a desire to 
emigrate to the prairies of the West. The poet de- 
scribes the journey over the mountains, the descent 
of the Ohio, their adventures by the way, their settle- 
ment in the wilderness, and their struggles to conquer 
the country about them. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne said that Read's poems 
were pictures and his pictures were i:)oems. Both 
were beautiful and uplifting. Three years before the 
Civil War, Read came to Philadelphia, bringing many 
of his best paintings. He opened a studio at Tenth 
and Chestnut Streets, and freely exhibited the pic- 
tures to all who cared to view. Orders for new paint- 
ings overwhelmed him. Often he stood before his 
easel without rest for five to eight hours at a time. 
Read had more friends in Philadelphia than in any 
other city, and many of his pictures came there to be 
placed in private collections. 



164 NOTED TENNSYLVANIANS 

After pleasant mouths in Pliiladelpliia, Read re- 
turned to Italy. When it became apparent that war 
would break out between North and South, his pa- 
triotic soul was deeply excited. Another truly 
American poem was the result — the "Wagoner of the 
Alleghenies." 

The scene of this poem is laid on the Schuylkill, 
at tlie beginning of the Revolution. The hero of the 
story is a youth who leaves his home because he can- 
not sympathize with those who would deny liberty 
to America. He becomes the "Wagoner of the Alle- 
ghenies" and fights on the side of the colonists. By 
this tale Read hoped to recall to the Americans their 
Revolutionary struggle for freedom and thus to in- 
crease their love for the Union. 

Before the poem was published, Read returned to 
America. There he met Mr. Murdoch, a celebrated 
actor and elocutionist, who was making a tour of the 
country, giving entertainments for the benefit of 
Union hospitals. Read gave to Murdoch the manu- 
script of his poem, and Murdoch recited selections 
from it in many cities. This added to the author's 
fame, and greatly helped the Northern enthusiasm. 

Sheridan's Ride. — But Read was not satisfied with 
using his pen to aid the Union. He joined tlie army 
and served for some time as a staff officer, with the 
rank of captain, under General Rosecrans, and under 
General Lew AVallace who afterward wrote the 
famous book, "Ben Hur." 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ 



165 



One day in 1864 Read was living in Cincinnati. 
His brother-in-law came to liim with a copy of '' Har- 
per's Weekly," which had on its front page a large 




DO YOU SUPPOSE I CAN WRITE A POEM TO ORDER? 

picture of General Sheridan riding to the front to 
rally his defeated troops. ''There is a poem in that 
picture," said he to Read. The poet replied: ''Do 
you suppose I can write a poem to order, just as you 
would order a coat?" 

The idea, however, took strong possession of 



166 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Read's mind. "Do not let me be interrupted," lie 
presently said to liis wife. "I am not to be called 
even if tlie house takes fire." In a few hours the 
poem of "Sheridan's Ride" was completed. 

That evening Mr. Murdoch, who never before had 
recited any poem at short notice, gave to his audience 
the timely and spirited verses. The house went wild, 
and journals over all the North copied the production, 
which is still famous. 

Up from the South, at break of day, 
Bringing' to Winchester fresh dismay 
The affrighted air with a shudder bore 
The terrible grumble and rumble and roar 
Telling the battle was on once more. 

Read was not satisfied with commemorating in 
verse the general's ride, but, finding that was such a 
popular subject, he painted a large picture of the 
daring leader coming upon the field and shouting, 
''Turn, boys, turn, we're going back!" Copies of 
this picture sold by tens of thousands. 

Mr. Murdoch, in his travels, recited chiefly from 
the poems of Read. President Lincoln came to hear 
him when he recited in the Senate Chamber and ap- 
plauded the selections. Lincoln took from his pocket- 
book a selection from one of Read's works, and 
sending it up by the Vice President, asked tliat 
Murdoch, with his impressive voice, should render 
the poem. 



THOMAS BUCHANAN HEAD 1G7 

Later Life of Read. — When peace was finally re- 
stored, Eead returned to Italy and made liis home in 
Rome. There for seven years he enjoyed the dis- 
tinction of being the most celebrated foreign inhabi- 
tant. All Americans and Englishmen wished to call 
on Mr. Read when they visited the Eternal City. His 
art was constantly in demand, and his house was a 
centre of hospitality. 

Read had never been strong. One autumn even- 
ing he was riding in a carriage with the Governor of 
New Jersey, who had visited him. They wished to 
see the Colosseum by moonlight. The carriage sank 
into a ditch along the road and overturned. Read 
was taken up insensible. 

The painter-poet never entirely recovered from 
the shock. All through the winter he worked dili- 
gently, but grew gradually more feeble. Believing 
that he was about to die, he longed for America. On 
his way home, however, he was stricken with pneu- 
monia, and died soon after he reached New York. 
His body rests now in Laurel Hill Cemetery. 

It is well to remember a painter whose art pro- 
duced nothing but beauty and a poet whose lines con- 
tain nothing worthless. His life, though only fifty 
years in extent, was filled with an amazing amount 
of achievement; and in his long residence abroad he 
lost none of liis pride in America and expectation of 
her great future. 



168 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

SHERIDAN'S RIDE (October 19, 1864). 

Up from the South, at break of day, 
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay, 
The affrighted air with a shudder bore, 
Like a herakl in liaste to the chieftain's door, 
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar, 
Telling the battle was on once more. 
And Shei'idan twenty miles away. 

And wider still those billows of war 
Thundered along the horizon's bar; 
And louder yet into Winchester rolled 
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled. 
Making the blood of the listener cold, 
As he thought of the stake in that tiery fray. 
With Sheridan twenty miles away. 

But there's a road from Winchester towTi, 
A good, broad highway leading dow-n ; 
And there, through the flush of the morning light, 
A steed as black as the steeds of night 
W^as seen to pass, as with eagle flight; 
As if he knew the terrible need. 
He stretched away with his utmost speed, 
Hills rose and fell, but his heart was gay, 
W^ith Sheridan fifteen miles away. 

Still sprang from those swift hoofs, thundering south. 
The dust, like smoke from a cannon's mouth, 
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster, 
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster. 
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master 
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls, 
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls; 
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play, 
W^ith Sheridan only ten miles away. 

Under his spurning feet, the road 
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed, 
And the landscape sped away behind 
Like an ocean flying before the wind; 



THOMAS BUCHANAN READ 169 

And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, 
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire ; 
But lo ! he is nearing hLs heart's desire ; 
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray. 
With Sheridan only five miles away. 

The first that the general saw were the groups 
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops; 
What was done? what to do? a glance told him both. 
Then striking his spurs with a terrible oath. 
He dashed down the Ime, mid a stoi-m of huzzas, 
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because 
The sight of the master compelled it to pause. 
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray; 
By tlie flash of Ijis eye and the red nostril's play. 
He seemed to the whole great amiy to say, 
" I have brought you Sheridan all the way 

From Winchester down to save the day." 

Hurrah ! huiTah for Slieridan ! 
Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man ! 
And when their statues are placed on high 
Under the dome of the Vnion sky, 
The Ameiican soldiei-'s Temple of Fame, 
There, with the glorious general's name. 
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright : 
" Here is the steed that saved the day 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight 

From Winchester — twenty miles away!" 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 
1791-1868. 
PENNSYLVANIA'S ONLY PRESIDENT. 
" God save the Union! I do not wish to survive it." 

The Scotch-Irish Storekeeper. — Thousands of emi- 
grants from Scotland at one time settled in the north 
of Ireland. To distinguish them from the native peo- 
ple, the}^ and their descendants 
have been called Scotch-Irish. 
Many Scotch-Irish, being ac- 
tive, independent and enter- 
prising, later came to America. 
Finding the land near the coast 
already occupied, they pushed 
into the ''back country" and 
became dwellers on the fron- 
tier. 

One of these emigrants to Pennsylvania, Buchanan 
by name, set up a store at the foot of the Blue Moun- 
tains in Franklin County. The settlement in which 
he had begun business bore the odd name of Stony 
Batter. There, not far from Mercersburg, a monu- 
ment to the distinguished son of the store-keeper 
stands to-day. 

Mrs. Buchanan. — Business prospered. Mr. Buch- 
anan brought up his family in comfort, but did not 
170 




JAMES BUCHANAN. 



JAMES BUCHANAN 171 

favor mucli schooling for them. The mother, how- 
ever, had a word to say on the subject. She knew 
that James, one of the eldest boys, had an excellent 
mind, and she persuaded her husband to give him a 
college education. 

Many a famous man has owed his success to his 
mother. James Buchanan said: "My mother was a 
remarkable woman. The daughter of a country 
farmer, engaged in household employment from 
early life until after my father's death, she yet found 
time to read much and to reflect on it. What she read 
once, she remembered forever. For her sons she was 
a delightful and instructive companion. I attribute 
any distinction which I may have gained to the 
blessing which God conferred upon me in granting 
me such a mother." After he was a grown man, 
James might often be found sitting in the kitchen to 
talk with his mother while she worked. 

In Trouble at College. — When James was sixteen 
he went to Dickinson College at Carlisle. He found 
that many of the young men did very much as they 
pleased. "To be a sober, industrious, plodding 
youth," said Buchanan afterward, "was to incur the 
ridicule of the mass of students." 

James imitated the majority. In order to be 
thought "smart," he tried to equal or excel the 
others in mischief, although he did well in his studies. 
At last he came to the end of his rope. James spent 
his vacation at home after his first college year. One 



172 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

day, while he and his father were sitting together, 
a letter arrived. Mr. Buchanan read it, then silently 
handed it to James and left the room. 

The letter was from the president of the college, 
It stated that James would have been publicly ex- 
pelled were it not that this would bring notice on the 
father, but that when college opened, James would not 
be admitted again. The youth "was mortified to the 
soul." He knew that his father would not stir a 
finger to help him out of the plight, but he went to 
the pastor of their church, a gentle and helpful man. 
By the pastor's aid James received another chance, 
and made good use of it. He had learned that 
"smartness" did not pay. 

Lawyer and Volunteer. — At nineteen, when James 
graduated, he began the study of law in Lancaster, 
a famous town in that respect. "I determined," said 
he, "that if severe application would make me a good 
lawyer, I should not fail. I studied law and nothing 
but law." In the evenings the 3^oung student took 
long lonely walks, and talked to the empty air con- 
cerning the things which he had learned. He, as 
many other students have done, found great benefit 
in this practice. 

Three years of intense study made Buchanan a 
full-fledged lawyer, just at the beginning of the War 
of 1812. When the British burned the Capitol at 
AVashington and threatened Baltimore, many volun- 
teers for army service came forward in Pennsylva- 



JAMES BUCHANAN 173 

nia. Buchanan not only enrolled himself in Lan- 
caster, but also made speeches to persuade others to 
do so. His company of volunteers marched to Bal- 
timore. As it happened, the Lancaster men saw no 
actual fighting, but their readiness to defend their 
country was no less praiseworthy for that. 

Beginning of Political Life. — Being energetic and 
worthy of respect, Buchanan soon made a name for 
himself and was nominated for the State Legislature. 
He was elected, and served two terms. His intention, 
however, was to return to the practice of law and 
stay out of political office. A sad event changed the 
current of Buchanan's life. The young lady to whom 
he was engaged died. 

To help him forget his grief, Buchanan accepted 
a nomination for Congress which was offered. He 
did not expect to be elected, nor did he greatly desire 
the honor, but the excitement of the contest would 
bring relief from sadness. To Buchanan's surpris'e 
he won the place, and his career thenceforward be- 
came political. He never married, however, though 
his tall form, distinguished features and pleasant 
manners made him a favorite in society. 

For five terms Buchanan remained in the House 
of Representatives. At the close of the ten years, he 
again intended to retire to private life *' without cast- 
ing one lingering look behind," but the Democrats of 
Pennsylvania brought forward his name for the Vice- 
Presidency. In consequence of the notice which this 



174 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

attracted, President Jackson appointed liira Minister 
to Russia. In that position Buchanan served with 
credit, and on his return the Legislature of his State 
elected him to the Senate. 

Secretary of State. The Oregon Boundary, — Presi- 
dent Van Buren offered Buchanan the place of Attor- 
ney General in his Cabinet, but Buchanan declined. 
When Polk became President, the post of Secretary 
of State was offered, and this time Buchanan ac- 
cepted. The most pressing question then before the 
United States was that of the northern boundary of 
the Oregon territory. This line would divide the 
United States from Canada. 

England claimed that her territory extended south 
to the mouth of the Columbia River. The United 
States claimed north to the line of 54° 40'. In the 
term of President Monroe we had offered to make 
the forty-ninth parallel the boundary; England re- 
fused this. It had then been decided that the two 
countries should "jointly occupy" the Oregon coun- 
try until the question could be settled. 

The joint occupation had now lasted for nearly 
twenty years. American settlers were crowding into 
the country. Who was to give them title to their 
land? Who would protect them in case of Indian 
war? The question of the boundary needed to be 
decided. 

In a speech at his inauguration President Polk 
claimed 54° 40' as the line. Public feeling became 



JAMES BUCHANAN 175 

strong. Many Americans raised the cry of ''Fifty- 
four forty or fight !" In order to make a ijeaceful ar- 
rangement, the President gave Buchanan power to 
offer 49° as the boundary. The English Minister 
stated that this was unfair and unjust, so Buchanan 
withdrew the offer. Buchanan's firmness impressed 
the Minister. He saw that he 'had gone too far, so 
he "ate his words" and presented the same offer on 
his part. This was accepted, and in 1846 we com- 
pleted our boundary line to the Pacific. 

The delays concerning the Oregon treaty caused 
Buchanan to suffer a great disappointment. He had 
long desired a place as judge in the Supreme Court. 
While the discussion with England was in progress, 
a vacancy occurred to which Buchanan would prob- 
ably have been appointed if he had said the word. 
He did not feel, however, that he was free to leave 
the Cabinet in the midst of such important business. 
Had Buchanan been less faithful to duty, his after 
life would have been spared many painful hours; 
but he was not a man who shirked. 

Life at Wheatland.— When Zachary Taylor, "Old 
Rough and Ready," came into office in 1849, Buch- 
anan left the Cabinet with renewed intention to 
keep out of public life. The previous year, he had 
bought a country home called Wheatland, just out- 
side of Lancaster. Here he expected to pass the rest 
of his life in the practice of law. Across the broad 
lawn a beautiful prospect of cultivated farms could 



176 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

be seen. It was a home of summer coolness, winter 
comfort, and peace at all seasons. 

Two children, a niece and a nephew of Buchanan, 
played about Wheatland. They came from different 
families. Their parents being dead, their uncle had 
taken upon himself to bring them up. For twenty 
years they remained in his household, until l)oth mar- 
ried. "No father could have bestowed a more faith- 
ful care over his own children," said the nephevv, 
"than this somewhat stern but devoted bachelor 
uncle of ours gave to us." While they were away at 
boarding school, Buchanan required them to write 
to him at least one letter a month. He always an- 
swered the letter at once, and did not fail to point 
out mistakes in language or spelling. In spite of his 
strictness, the children loved him. He was their hero. 

The people of Lancaster, who had known Buch- 
anan for forty years, since he was a youth, also 
loved, respected and honored him. All his neighbors, 
however poor or uneducated, were treated l)y him 
with friendship. Many persons wondered that 
Buchanan, who had associated with so many of wealth 
and high position, could spend time listening to the 
petty affairs of some poor acquaintance. But 
Buchanan was a democrat in the best sense of the 
word. 

One night, while the sleet was rattling against the 
windows of Wheatland, Buchanan gazed out into the 
storm. The familv heard him sav to himself, "God 



JAMES BUCHANAN 



177 



help the poor to-night !" The next day he sent to the 
Mayor of Lancaster a considerable sum to buy fuel 
for the poor. His will left more money for the same 
purpose. Many in need 
of money were helped by 
him with gifts and loans. 
All these things endeared 
him to the townspeople, 

did nothing 

to becoming 



although 



he 
with a view 
popular. 

Minister to England- A 
Question of Dress — -At the 
next Democratic presi- 
dential convention after 
Buchanan had left the 
Cabinet, his name was 
brought forward for the 
office. Franklin Pierce, 
however, gained the nomi- 
nation and election. As 
soon as Pierce learned 
that he had been elected, 
he wrote to Buchanan, 
asking him for advice, 
and later gave him the post of Minister to England. 

The purpose for which Buchanan was sent came 
near being defeated by the question of dress. 
Buchanan had expected to appear at court in the 

12 




GOD HELP THE POOR TO-NIQHT ! 



178 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ordinary evening dress of an American citizen. The 
court officials were horrified to learn this. They de- 
clared it was the costume of servants, and that some 
uniform or decoration would be necessary to show 
honor to the young queen Victoria. 

''A Minister of the United States," said Buch- 
anan, "should wear something more in keeping 
with our democratic ways than a coat covered with 
embroidery and gold lace." Many English officials, 
who thought more of the clothes than of the man, 
wished to deny Buchanan any invitations to the court 
balls and dinners. But Victoria respected Buch- 
anan's ideas. On his part, he consented to wear a 
plain black-hilted sword as a mark of position, and 
there was no more talk of dress. 

Buchanan Becomes President. — When Buchanan re- 
turned from England it was in the year of another 
presidential nomination. Again his name was 
brought forward by his friends, and this time he was 
selected as candidate of the Democratic party. 
Buchanan held strange old-fashioned principles. He 
believed that the office should seek the man, and that 
it was undignified and almost disgraceful for a person 
to travel about the country speech-making in order to 
be nominated for President. He could truthfully say 
after the convention had chosen him: "I have care- 
fully refrained from seeking the nomination, either by 
word or by deed." His friends could also say: "He 
takes the place without promises to any one. ' ' 



JAMES BUCHANAN 179 

Buchanan was elected. Early on a cold stormy 
morning he drove to the Lancaster station to take 
the train for Washington. It was neither too cold 
nor too early to i^revent a great crowd of friends from 
assembling to escort him to the train. A car built for 
the occasion, with windows showing in color scenes 
about Wheatland, bore him to the national capital. 

The new President was nearing seventy, though 
age had weakened neither his body nor his mind. In 
his speech at the inauguration, however, he declared 
that he would not be a candidate for another term. 
''Therefore," he said, "I shall have no motive to 
influence my conduct except the desire ably and faith- 
fully to serve my country." 

Bleeding Kansas. Buchanan's Views on Slavery. — 
Early in Buchanan's term the dispute between the 
North and South concerning slavery broke out with 
greater fierceness than ever. Senator Stephen A. 
Douglas had overthrown Clay's Compromise of 1850 
by carrying through Congress the Kansas-Nebraska 
Act. This act provided that the settlers of thes'e two 
territories should vote for themselves whether or not 
the territories should enter the Union as free States. 
The opposing parties in Kansas acted with great 
violence. Houses were burned and men were killed, 
so that the nation spoke of "Bleeding Kansas." 

Buchanan made no secret of his opinions concern- 
ing slavery. He had held them for many y'ears. Per- 
sonally he disliked slavery. Often he had bought 



180 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

slaves in Wasliington, liad brought them north to 
Lancaster, and had there set them free, trusting to 
their honesty to repay him the price. In national 
affairs, however, he believed that since this govern- 
ment had permitted slavery when the Union was 
formed, the nation had no right to interfere with it 
in States already within the Union. Each State must 
decide questions about slavery for itself. Any other 
course, thought Buchanan, would break up the Union, 
and, like Lincoln, he held that to preserve the Union 
was more important than to abolish slavery. 

North against South. Lincoln's Election. — As years 
passed, the feelings aroused by the slavery question 
grew more bitter. Slavery had been fastened upon 
the South by the invention of the cotton-gin, Avhicli 
made cotton the great crop. It could not be raised 
and picked without negro labor. The Northern 
States, with their large amount of manufacturing, 
grew faster in population than the South, wliich de- 
voted itself to farming. The Northern people were 
also spreading out into new territories. 

The Southerners saw that they would soon be out- 
voted in both Houses of Congress. Then they 
thought that the slaves, their "property," would per- 
haps be set free. This would turn the whole South 
upside down. Many of the most influential men of 
the South decided that the only cure for this condi- 
tion was secession from the Union. 

The campaign of 1860 turned upon the question 



JAMES BUCHANAN 181 

of how slavery should be treated. Abraham Lincoln 
was nominated bv the new Kepiiblican party. This 
j)arty declared that Congress had no right to inter- 
fere with slavery in the States which had it already, 
but that there should be no slavery in any new State. 

Lincoln was elected by the votes of eighteen 
"free" States. No Southern State had a majority 
of votes for him. The Southerners knew that the 
election of Lincoln meant that no new slave States 
would come into the Union. They also took his elec- 
tion to mean that their "property" would be taken 
away. Lincoln, they said, was an abolitionist. This 
was not true. The abolitionists had supported Lin- 
coln, l)ut the only point in which Lincoln's ideas on 
slavery differed from those of Buchanan was that 
Lincoln said: "No slavery in any new State," while 
Buchanan said : "A State coming into the Union may 
choose whether it henceforth shall be slave or free." 

Secession. — South Carolina took the lead in seces- 
sion. As soon as the election result became known, 
the legislature of that State called a convention to 
meet the next month. Every one knew that this 
meant secession. What should the President do! 
Never before had the head of our government faced 
such a difficult question. In 1832 this same State had 
declared certain laws of the United States to be "null 
and void," but even then had not gone to the length 
of trying to leave the Union. 

Buchanan prepared a message to Congress. He 



182 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

took up the question, "Has Congress power to compel 
a State, by force, to remain in the Union!" He de- 
nied that any State had a right to secede. Still, the 
Government, he said, should never open war upon a 
State; but if the State attacked Government officers, 
tried to capture Government property, or interfered 
with the collection of Government money, the United 
States should defend its rights to the utmost. 
Buchanan's words remind us of those uttered l)y 
Captain Parker at Lexington: "Don't fire unless you 
are fired upon; but if they want a war, let it begin 
here." He did not wish a war, and tried to avoid one. 
Perhaps it might be possible to keep other Southern 
States from following South Carolina. He recom- 
mended to Congress certain measures which would 
satisfy the South that slavery was not to be abolished. 

The secessionists did not wait for any such 
measures to be made. They passed an ordinance 
of secession and boldly sent commissioners to Wash- 
ington to discuss with the Government the new con- 
dition of affairs. The President permitted them to 
have a talk with him, although, he said, he would 
receive them not as commissioners but as private 
gentlemen. 

Major Anderson with a few men was then holding 
Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor. News came 
that fearing attack, he had spiked his cannon and 
transferred his men by night to Fort Sumter, which 
could be better defended. The commissioners said 



JAMES BUCHANAN 183 

this was an act of war, and demanded that the United 
States troops should be entirely withdrawn from 
Charleston Harbor. Buchanan answered that the 
troops would not be removed, and that Fort Sumter 
would be defended against attack by all the means 
in his power. 

The commissioners became so enraged at Buch- 
anan's answer that he refused any further inter- 
views with them. South Carolina seized all the 
United States property within the State except Fort 
Sumter, in which Major Anderson was cooped up. 
Every United States officer from iSouth Carolina re- 
signed, and the State began to build batteries which 
could cannonade the fort. The Southern members 
of Buchanan's Cabinet resigned. Five other States 
soon seceded also and formed the "Confederate 
States of America." 

Buchanan's Difficulties, His Retirement. — The army 
of the United States at this time consisted of only 
eighteen thousand men. Most of these were on the 
frontier protecting settlers against danger from In- 
dians, and could not be withdrawn. Congress was in 
session, and various bills came before it for aiding 
the President to defend the rights of the Government, 
but not one passed. There was little for Buchanan 
to do but to wait for events to take their course. He 
was at the end of his own term. The majority in 
Congress was of the opposite part}^, and seemed 
anxious to do nothing until Lincoln should be inau- 



184 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

gurated. The mass of the people in the North 
scarcely believed there would be war. It was im- 
portant to keep the "border States," Kentucky, Mary- 
land, Virginia, in the Union, if possible, and any 
active measures against the "cotton States" were 
almost sure to offend them. So long as there was no 
actual fighting, the President's hands seemed tied. 
It was with relief that he gave the office into Lin- 
coln's care. 

Living quietly at Wheatland, Buchanan saw the 
war begin and triumphantly end. Many i)ersons, 
anxious to exalt the glory of Lincoln by blaming the 
former President, published articles attacking Buch- 
anan, but this did not disturb the old statesman. 
"The American people," he said, "will some time 
see that my course was the only one which promised 
any hope of saving the nation from a terrible war." 
He died at the age of seventy-seven, and was buried, 
as he wished, in the beautiful country near Lancaster. 

Character of Buchanan. — Buchanan has often l)een 
called timid and hesitating because he wished to keep 
the country from war. He was regarded as a friend 
to slavery because he thought that to abolish slavery 
against the will of the slave states would break up 
the Union. As we see now, the Union could not re- 
main part slave and part free. War could not be 
avoided. The North thought otherwise, however. 
Lincoln, when he became President, had no purpose 
to abolish slavery, and in regard to war followed the 



JAMES BUCHANAN 185 

same inactive course as Buchanan until the cannon 
that fired on Sumter awakened the nation as a call to 
arms. 

Whatever writers of history may say concerning 
the wisdom of Buchanan's political ideas, no one can 
deny the honesty of his character. No President 
could have been more careful to set a good example 
to others. He considered that his time belonged to 
the nation. The days were spent in work, and his 
vacations were few and short. When presented with 
gifts of any value, he at once returned them to the 
sender. In his travels he paid his own fare, and never 
used a pass even when out of office. "Whert I cannot 
afford to pay my way," he declared, ''I will stay at 
home." His niece, Harriet Lane, while "Mistress of 
the White House," took a trip to West Point on a 
Government vessel which had been named after her. 
Her uncle wrote to her that national vessels should 
not l)e employed on pleasure excursions, and that he 
would put a stop to the practice. As a gentleman of 
the old school, di^Tiified, honest and manly, Penn- 
sylvania may well honor her only President. 




GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN. 

1826-1885. 
THE "YOUNG NAPOLEON." 

The Little Student.— Students at the University of 
Pennsylvania were once received at a much younger 
age than at present — which is to say, that the studies 

were easier then. In the same 
year when the doctor at West 
Chester was examining the 
peculiarities of Bayard Tay- 
lor's cranium, a little fellow of 
thirteen entered the classes of 
the University. The name 
^ ^' of this young collegian was 

GEORGE BRINTON MCCLELLAN. _, -^ t, r ^-m ■. , 1 

George B. McClellan. 

George, like Elisha Kane, was small in stature, 
active and hardy. Unlike Kane, however, Goorge 
always loved study. The story is told that when the 
youngster used to visit his grandfather, the library 
proved the most attractive room. The old gentleman 
liked every one to be punctual at meals. When meal- 
time arrived, George would be buried in some book. 

"Supper is ready!" made no impression on him. 
** George, come to supper right away!" his grand- 
mother would call. George then usually stood up, 
continuing to read, and if no one came after him he 
would stay in that position until the others had 
finished eating. 
186 



GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN 187 

West Point. The Mexican War. — At the University 
George distinguished himself in his classes, and on 
graduating thence desired to become a soldier. One 
of the members of Congress from Philadelphia gave 
him the coveted place at West Point. McClellan en- 
joyed the four years which he spent there. In his 
class was "Stonewall" Jackson, afterward such a 
famous Southern general. 

McClellan, although so intelligent, seemed too 
young for a soldier's life. He was slight and not tall ; 
his frame, however, was wiry and healthy. Soon the 
young man was able to show that large size is not 
always necessary when hard work is to be done. 

The Mexican War was just beginning. All cadets 
who complete the West Point course are given 
the rank of second lieutenant. Lieutenant McClellan 
received assignment to tlie newly formed Engineer 
Company, whose duty was to build and clear roads, 
bridge rivers, and throw up intrenchments. In a 
short time after McClellan received his commission, 
the company left for Mexico, and took active jiart in 
the siege and capture of Vera Cruz. 

The engineers now preceded General Scott's army 
and laid out its path in its march from the seacoast 
toward the city of Mexico. In one of the battles 
on the way McClellan 's horse was killed under him. 
At last the Mexican capital surrendered, and after 
helping for some months to garrison the city, McClel- 
lan arrived home as a captain. He had now received 



188 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

more than a taste of war, and had profited by his 
rough experiences. 

Expeditions to Texas and the Northwest. — For four 
years thereafter, McClellan was a teacher in the West 
Point Academy. His practical experience in warfare 
enabled him to speak with authority on many matters. 
Then for a time, as an engineer. Captain McClellan 
assisted in directing the building of Fort Delaware, 
on an island not far below Philadelphia. 

A more adventurous life now opened. Texas, 
which had been annexed to the United States in con- 
sequence of the Mexican War, still lay partly unex- 
plored. McClellan received direction to take part in 
an expedition to discover the headwaters of the Red 
River and to rej^ort upon the nature of the land. In 
three months the party of soldiers, with Indian guides 
and a train of wagons, travelled a thousand miles 
over the plains. They discovered the stream they 
sought and brought back much information about this 
formerly unknown land. 

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 
brought so many people to the Pacific coast that our 
government began to consider a railroad from ocean 
to ocean. Accordingly, Congress granted money to 
survey various routes for such a railroad. Captain 
McClellan was placed in charge of the western sec- 
tion of the most northern route considered. Now for 
the first time he took the leadership of an expedition. 

The region which McClellan was to explore lay 



GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN 



189 



within the present state of Washington, which had 
just been separated from Oregon and made a terri- 
tory. Over the Cascade Mountains and the great 
lava plains east of 
them passed the expe- 
dition, then down the 
Columbia Rive r. 
Puget Sound was next 
explored. 

As a result of his 
survey of the whole 
territory, McClellan 
reported that the best 
place for a railroad 
would be along the 
l)ank of the Columbia, 
and that Seattle, then 
a small lumber village, 
had the best harbor 
for the end of the rail- 
road. Time has shown 
that his judgment was 
right. The first rail- 
road in the State of 
Washington passed 

along the Columbia, and the greatest city on Puget 
Sound to-day is Seattle. 

Visit to the Crimea. Beginning of Civil War, — Soon 
after McClellan had finished this work, war broke 




OVER THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS PASSED 
THE EXPEDITION. 



190 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

out in Europe. Russia had tried to seize some laud 
beloui-ing to Turkey. England and France objected, 
and declared war on Russia. The combined armies of 
the two nations attacked the Russian forts in the pen- 
insula of the Crimea, which projects into the Black 
Sea, so that this was called the Crimean War. 

As there had been no war between the great 
nations of Europe for forty years, since Napoleon 
was conquered and sent to St. Helena, the other gov- 
ernments interested themselves in learning whether 
any important changes in the mode of carrying on 
warfare had taken ])lace during that time. The 
United States selected three officers to visit the scene 
of battle and report on the military operations. 

McClellan, only twenty-eight years old, was ap- 
pointed as one of the three, although the other officers 
were each nearly double his age. It was a high honor. 
The officers spent a year in visiting the armies in the 
Crimea and examining into military affairs in other 
parts of Europe. The knowledge thus gained gave 
McClellan power to organize large bodies of troops 
during the Civil War. 

On Captain McClellan 's return, a large railroad 
company, the Illinois Central, engaged him as chief 
engineer. He therefore resigned his commission in 
the army. Soon he was made vice-president of the 
road. His duties obliged him to live in Chicago, and 
while visiting Springfield, the capital of Illinois, he 
made acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln, who prac- 



GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN 191 

ticed law there. Soon another railroad called Mc- 
Clellan to be the president of its eastern division. 

McClellan now lived in Cincinnati. When the 
Civil War began, Ohio was called upon for thirteen 
regiments. In the enthusiasm of the people, volun- 
teers speedily made up the number required, but there 
were few officers to drill and organize them. The 
governor of Ohio, who knew Captain McClellan 's 
ability, turned to him for help. The Ohio Legislature 
commissioned McClellan as Major-General of the 
State's volunteers. Pennsylvania wished to give him 
command of its troops, but Ohio first secured his 
services. 

The Young Napoleon. — Almost immediately the 
government at Washington, on General Scott's re- 
quest, made McClellan a major-general in the regular 
arm5^ All the troops in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois 
were put under his direction. General McClellan 
then led his troops into the western part of Virginia, 
where lived many Union sympathizers, and fought a 
small battle which dispersed the Confederates 
engaged. 

This success so much encouraged the Union people 
of that section that a few days later they decided to 
secede in their turn from the Confederate side. They 
formed a State government, and called the State 
West Virginia. It was admitted into the Union in 
1863. This new government immediately raised more 
troops and thus aided McClellan. 



192 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

The Confederates still endeavored to hold West 
Virginia, and sent there two commanders with their 
forces. McClellan by great energy defeated them 
also, so that he could send to Washington this dis- 
patch : "Onr success is complete, and secession is 
killed in this country." 

The people began to call McClellan the "young 
Napoleon." Then came the disastrous defeat of the 
Union army at Bull Run, near Washington, Many 
of the fugitives from McDowell's army never stopped 
until they entered the city. All looked to McClellan 
as the general who could save the country. Lincoln 
gave him command of the great body of troops that 
was assembled to protect Washington. 

McClellan 's task was hard. He had to drill raw 
troops, manage an immense army, and obtain sup- 
plies for it. The young general often spent sixteen 
hours a day in the saddle, and his troops soon learned 
to know him as a commander who took a personal 
interest in his men. Soon he received command of 
the Army of the Potomac. In the autumn of 1862, 
General Scott, who was now seventy-five years old, 
resigned as commander-in-chief of the United States 
army, and McClellan filled his place. 

Peninsular Campaign. — The cry was ''On to Rich- 
mond!" but the problem was, how to attack it. Two 
possible ways appeared — one by marching directly 
south from Washington, the other by transporting 
the troops by water to Fortress Monroe and then 



GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN 193 

moving toward Richmond up the "Peninsula," the 
strip of land between the York and the James rivers. 
Lincoln preferred the first plan, McClellan the sec- 
ond. McClellan was finally allowed to try his plan. 

For this a large army was necessary. McClellan 
estimated that he needed 150,000 men, and expected 
to have them. Many of the troops were sent else- 
where, however, so that .only two-thirds of his original 
arni}^ remained at the beginning of the Peninsular 
Campaign. 

With these, McClellan moved forward, but now 
the unfortunate trait of his character appeared. As 
general of such a large army, he was so anxious to 
avoid making mistakes that he grew overly slow and 
cautious. Thus the Confederates easily outwitted 
him. A small Southern army at Yorktown kept back 
his whole army for a month. 

At last McClellan came within six miles of Rich- 
mond. With the help of General McDowell's army, 
which had been ordered to join him, he expected to 
crush Lee's army and capture Richmond. "Stone- 
wall" Jackson, however, marched north along the 
Shenandoah Valley, and so alarmed the Federal gov- 
ernment that McDowell's army was recalled. 

The Chickahominy, a stream flowing into the 
James River, divided the Union army. Taking ad- 
vantage of a violent storm, which flooded the valley 
and threatened to carry away all the bridges, Loe 
attacked. This contest of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines 

13 



194 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

was a drawn battle, but it gave McClellan such a 
resjiect for liis enemy that Richmond was saved. 

A month later, Lee attacked again. The Union 
army still lay in the same position. Only one-half 
of the army was assailed, and McClellan could have 
seized the chance to march directly on Richmond, 
which was in sight, but did not dare to try such a bold 
stroke. His army being driven south across the 
Chickahominy and cut off from his gunboats, he de- 
cided to bring army and gunboats together on the 
James River. 

For seven days there was continuous marching 
and fighting by the Federal troops. At last they 
turned at bay on Malvern Hill with the gunboats 
behind them. The Confederates attacked desper- 
ately, but were defeated. McClellan was safe, but 
had failed to capture Richmond. Lincoln was bit- 
terly disappointed, and removed McClellan from 
command of the Union forces. 

Gradually the army was transferred by water back 
to Washington, where McClellan arrived just after 
Stonewall Jackson had defeated General Pope in the 
second battle of Bull Run. It seemed as though 
nothing could prevent Lee from invading the North. 
Pope resigned command, and McClellan was again 
put at the head. 

Antietam. End of McClellan's Military Service. — Lee 
now marched up the great valley which extends from 
Virginia to Pennsylvania. He crossed the Potomac 



GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN 195 

and entered Maryland. McOlellan hastened to get 
in front of the Southern army, and met Lee at iVutie- 
tam Creek, near the Potomac. 

Here a tierce battle followed. Lee had a small 
army compared to that of McClellan, but he managed 
it so well that the Northern troops lost heavily. 
Lee's forces, however, suffered so greatly that he 
dared not continue to invade the North. He retreated 
across the Potomac to Virginia, while the Union army 
did nothing. 

Lincoln wished McClellan to follow up Lee and 
attack him again. McClellan thought that his troops 
were unable to do so. Lincoln was again disappointed 
with McClellan 's slowness and over-caution, and put 
General Burnside in charge of the army. 

This was a great blow to McClellan. He served 
no more during the war. In 1864 the Democratic 
party nominated him for President against Lincoln. 
The Democrats said the war had been a failure, but 
a great majority of the voters thought otherwise. 
Later on McClellan was elected governor of New 
Jersey, and proved to be a good one. 

Although the military life of General McClellan 
ended in some disgrace, we must not forget the real 
and important service that he rendered to the coun- 
try. There was probably no other general who could 
have organized so many thousand men into such a 
well-drilled army. A leader like McClellan was 
needed for the beginning of the war. 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE. 

1815-1872. 
THE ROCK OF GETTYSBURG. 

The Engineer Officer.— About 1850, an officer of 
engineers in the United States army was engaged in 
the work of erecting lighthouses along Delaware Bay. 

The same officer helped build 
the greatBreakwater near Cape 
Henloj^en, which has sheltered 
from storm so many ships. 

The name of this officer was 
George Gordon Meade. He 
^^^ was tall and spare, with strong- 
features. His movements were 
quick and his disposition 
energetic. Not manj^ years 
afterward, the North would know him as one of her 
great commanders, and his greatest battle would be 
fought to protect his home city of Philadelphia. 

Meade in War. His Wound. — The Civil War be- 
gan, and after the disastrous battle of Bull Eun, 
Meade, who had been trained at West Point, volun- 
teered. He was made a general, commanding a bri- 
gade of five new Pennsylvania regiments, who were 
sent to help protect Washington. While in camp near 
that city. General Meade became a close friend of 
196 




GEORGE GORDON MEADE. 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE 197 

General Reynolds, who was afterward killed at Get- 
tysburg, and many a pleasant hour the two passed 
together. 

When General McClellan's Army of the Potomac 
was marching south toward Richmond, in 1862, the 
Confederates pounced down upon it and tried to cut 
through the line. The troops with whom was General 
Meade endeavored to prevent this, and after an all- 
day fight succeeded in beating oiT the enemy. 

In this battle a bullet wounded Meade seriously in 
the body, and another entered his arm. He was able 
to ride slowly to a hospital in the rear, however, and 
a boat on the James River took him to Philadelphia. 
In less than two months Meade returned to the army, 
but one of these hurts injured his health ever after, 
and caused his death before ten years had passed, 

Antietam and Fredericksburg. — j\Ieade, now com- 
manding a division (several brigades), took part in 
the battle of Antietam, where Lee was prevented 
from invading Pennsylvania. That same year, under 
General Burnside as commander-in-chief, the Army 
of the Potomac attacked the Confederates at Fred- 
ericksburg, on the Rappahannock. 

The Northern army crossed the river and as- 
saulted the strongly fortified heights behind the 
town. Meade, with his division, was required to cross 
a wide, open plain to reach these heights. In full 
view of the Confederates, his soldiers advanced as 
if on parade, drove back the enemy on the plain and 



198 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

craslied into the line on the heights. Then since other 
troops failed to come to his support, Meade found it 
necessary to retire. 

We hear much of Pickett's famous charge at Get- 
tysburg; but this charge of Meade has been consid- 
ered greater than Pickett's, though it is not so cele- 
brated. Meade's men had farther to go before 
reaching the enemy than had Pickett's, and the 
ground was more open. Pickett's men took no pris- 
oners; Meade's captured three hundred. Pickett 
merely reached the Union lines and could not hold 
his ground; but Meade remained in the Confederate 
trenches for an hour. The soldiers who had done so 
well were furious at being compelled to retreat from 
a position which they had so bravely won, and which 
they could have held if others had helped them. 

Chancellorsville. Meade Heads the Army. — The bat- 
tle of Fredericksburg proved to be a flat failure. 
General Burnside's command of the army was given 
to General Hooker, known as "Fighting Joe." 
Meade received command of a corps of troops (sev- 
eral divisions). Hooker moved north along the Rap- 
pahannock, and at Chancellorsville Lee attacked him. 

Hooker's good reputation as a general suifered 
sad loss by his strange conduct on that field. In spite 
of the bravery of various officers, the battle was lost. 
Meade's troops were kept waiting a long time and 
took little part in the fighting, although Meade 
pleaded with Hooker to let him attack the Confed- 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE 199 

erates. At last Hooker decided to retreat across the 
Rappahannock. Meade advised against it, but could 
not persuade Hooker. 

This failure proved that Hooker was not the right 
man for commander of the army. Soon after the 
battle, Meade received messages from three generals, 
each his senior in service, stating that they would 
be glad to serve under him as commander. Finally 
Hooker resigned his command, and an order came 
that Meade should head the Arni}^ of the Potomac. 

Meade did not wish the position. He was a man 
who did not greatly crave high command, and on this 
occasion he considered his appointment unjust to his 
friend General Reynolds, who was his senior in rank. 
However, Meade was informed that he had no choice 
in the matter; he must take the appointment. The 
order came during the night, and Meade was directed 
to go at once to Hooker's tent to take over the com- 
mand. It was an unpleasant duty, but Meade faced 
it as he did all other duties in his life. 

Meade against Lee. — Halleck, generahin-chief at 
Washington, wrote to Meade at this time, "Consid- 
ering the circumstances, no one ever received a more 
important command." It was in truth both import- 
ant and difficult. Lee was moving northward on his 
second attempt to invade Pennsylvania. If it were 
possible, — and there seem'ed every reason to think 
so, — he would capture Baltimore and Philadelphia. 

The Army of the Potomac had suffered two de- 



200 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



feats, one at Fredericksburg, one at Chancellorsville, 
and its divisions were now widely scattered. Hooker 
had left camp without telling Meade any of his plans 
for the movements of the army. Meade knew neither 




THE ORDEK CAME DURING THE NIGHT. 



the exact position of the enemy nor the exact loca- 
tions of the parts of his own army. Yet the success 
of the whole war seemed to depend upon his actions. 
Burnside wrote to Meade: ''I am sure that you 
are quite equal to the position you are called to fill. 
You are regarded by all who know you as an honest, 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE 201 

skilful and unselfish officer and a true, disinterested 
patriot. I will not congratulate you, because I know 
it is no subject of congratulation to assume such a 
responsibility at such a time ; but I will earnestly pray 
for your success." 

The whole North was stirred and frightened by 
Lee's invasion. "Emergency" regiments were 
raised, and in Philadelphia business was almost sus- 
pended. iSome of Lee's cavalry actually reached the 
Susquehanna, but just in time the bridge at Wrights- 
ville was burned, which prevented them from 
crossing. 

Lee, cut otf from Philadelphia, turned toward Bal- 
timore. Meade's army lay between that city and the 
Confederates. Lee, however, had no intention of idly 
turning back. His two recent victories had given 
confidence to him and his troops. The Confederates 
were in good fighting condition and for once were 
not much inferior in force to the Union soldiers. 

Battle at Gettysburg. — Gettysburg, where seven 
main roads came together, suited Lee as a place for 
a battle. Accordingly he began to draw the various 
divisions of his army toward that center. Meade 
learned of this movement and sent General Reynolds 
to examine the ground. The troops of Reynolds came 
into collision with the enemy. Reynolds was killed 
(July 1st) and the Union forces hurried toward the 
spot to support his men. The great battle was thus 
begun before Meade had been five days in control. 



202 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Meade 's army had marched long and hard to reach 
Gettysburg. The heat was intense. The Union 
troops took post on Cemetery Ridge, and held that 
necessary point, though the Confederates, on the. 
second day of the battle, fiercely attacked them. 

The third day's battle would doubtless decide 
whether or not Baltimore and Philadelphia should 
come into Confederate hands. Lee and his officers 
were high in hope. For two days they had done all 
the attacking and had the better of the conflict so far. 
Meade's officers had confidence, however, in their 
quiet, modest, self-possessed commander. He recog- 
nized that it was Lee who must do the attacking; 
therefore his effort was to provide every possible 
defence against Lee's onslaught. 

At one o'clock on the afternoon of July 3rd, the 
Confederate artillery, from a line two miles long, sud- 
denly began a terrific fire which lasted half an hour. 
This was to throw the Union troops into confusion 
before Pickett's famous charge. 

Meade saw that the attack would soon come. To 
prepare for the storm he massed at the center of his 
lines rank after rank of troops, ready to be rushed to 
any desired point. Behind them all waited a regi- 
ment of cavalry to drive back into battle any coward 
who might flee or to shoot him down if he would not 
halt, for every man was needed on that day. Such 
careful preparation was characteristic of General 
Meade. It desei'\^ed success. 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE 203 

Pickett's Charge. Lee Retreats. — Pickett's fifteen 
thousand men rushed upon the Union soldiers. The 
Confederates had about half a mile to traverse, and 
the Northern artillery opened on them at once. Up 
to the stone wall which protected most of the Union 
line charged the Southerners, and at one point drove 
the Federals back for some distance, but could not 
remain inside the wall. 

Soon the Confederates were either stretched upon 
the ground, taken prisoners or put to flight. They 
disappeared as if blown away by the wind. The 
Southern blow had been i^owerful, but it had failed 
to break the Union force. If Pickett could have held 
his ground inside the stone wall, the rest of Lee's 
force would have come up to his aid. As it was, Lee 
had missed his aim. The high-water mark of the 
rebellion had been reached. From that time the 
Southern fortunes in the war declined. 

It was now necessary for Lee to retreat. He did so 
until he reached the Potomac. Here he fortified him- 
self and waited, hoping that Meade would attack and 
receive the same medicine which Lee had been given. 

With his exhausted army, Meade could follow Lee 
but slowly. When he discovered the fortifications, he 
halted. He was too wise to fall into the trap. In- 
stead of attacking in front, as Lee wished, Meade sent 
troops to get into Lee's rear and cut off his supplies. 
To avoid this danger, Lee had to retreat across the 
river. 



204 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Because Meade did not attack Lee immediately, 
Lincoln at first manifested much disappointment, and 
Halleck telegraphed to Meade in sharp terms. . Meade 
at once replied: 

''Having performed my duty conscientiously and 
to the best of my ability, the censure of the President 
is, in my judgment, so undeserved that I feel coni- 
IDelled to ask to be immediately relieved from the 
command of this army." 

His resignation was not accepted, and Lincoln, 
changing his mind, later remarked: "Why should we 
censure a man who has done so much for his country 
becaus"e he did not do a little more?" 

Meade crossed the Potomac at the heels of Lee, 
and tried to get between him and Richmond, but failed 
through the stupidity of the officer whom he sent to 
hold Lee back. He had done the important thing, 
however, in saving the North from invasion. 

Grant and Meade. — Before the campaign of 1864 
opened. Grant, who had received the surrender of 
Vicksburg while Meade and Lee were still facing each 
other after Gettysburg, was made comnumder-in-chief 
of all the Northern armies. Meade then offered, so 
as to avoid hampering Grant, to resign his command 
of the Army of the Potomac. Grant refused, saying: 
"No man can command that army better than Gen- 
eral Meade." The generosity thus shown was re- 
turned when some officers were speaking slightingly 
of Grant. Meade silenced them. "You make a mis- 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE 205 

take," he exclaimed. "General Grant is a man of 
very great ability." In Meade's nature existed no 
mean jealousy. 

Though Meade remained in command of the Army 
of the Potomac, Grant was his superior officer, plan- 
ning the important movements of the army. Meade 
simply carried out Grant's jjlans. It was hard, for 
a general so competent and vigorous, to be compelled 
to give the glory into other hands. 

This arrangement lasted until the end of the war. 
It was a year which tried to the utmost the Union 
army. The war had lasted so long that the minds and 
bodies of all engaged were nearly worn out. Most 
of the generals quarreled among themselves; but 
Grant and .Meade were above quarreling, though upon 
them rested so many burdens. 

Grant recognized Meade's ability, and Meade in 
return served faithfully, as was his nature. Although 
he would not receive the credit in the nation's eyes, 
Meade never hesitated to think out and suggest such 
arrangements as would best carry out Grant's plans. 
Grant on his part nearly always adopted these sug- 
gestions and thanked Meade for them. It would be 
well for us all to take lessons in this respect from 
these two great men. 

Appomattox. Meade Foregoes Glory. — When Lee's 
army fled from the neighborhood of Richmond and 
pushed westward toward the Blue Ridge, seeking to 
find a refuge in the mountains, all knew that it was 



206 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

the beginning of the end. At Appomattox Court 
House the Confederates were brought to bay. The 
few remaining divisions left of the Army of the 
Potomac came upon them. At once the Union force 
prepared for attack. General Longstreet formed his 
weary men in line of battle. 

At that critical moment General Meade arrived. 
He knew that the Confederates could scarcely resist 
longer. Grant had already asked Lee to surrender, 
and Lee had asked for an interview to discuss the 
matter. Grant had refused to talk with Lee until Lee 
should surrender. Now Lee sent another note re- 
questing an interview, but Grant was far away and 
could not receive the message for some time. 

If the Union attack on Lee's army began, Meade 
would have the glory of forcing Lee's surrender. 
Before any answer could possibly come from Grant, 
all would be over. But Meade knew the meaning of 
the note which Lee had sent. He knew that if he held 
back his troops there need be no more bloodshed. 
Therefore, giving up his own prospect of glory, he 
declared truce until Grant's answer should come. 
Meade was too noble a man to wish personal fame at 
a needless expense of human life. 

The close of the war found Meade disabled in 
health. The wound received three years before had 
forced him to ride in an ambulance during most of 
the last days of the 1865 campaign. Only with great 
pain and by the aid of others could he mount his 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE 207 

faithful horse ''Old Baldy."^ Conquering his pain, 
however, he rode at the head of the remnant of the 
Army of the Potomac at the grand review in Wash- 
ington which closed the war. He had served his coun- 
try well and nobly. No one in that great army could 
show a more unspotted record. 

Services After the War. — After the war, General 
Meade was given charge of several of the Southern 
States, forming a military district, while the work of 
' ' reconstruction ' ' went on. When this service ended, 
he was made commander of the troops along the At- 
lantic coast, with headquarters in Philadelphia, so 
that he was able to live in that city during the re- 
mainder of his life. 

When Philadelphia had acquired the land for 
Fairmount Park, and it yet lay in the original fields, 
General Meade took great interest in planning the 
Park. To him, more than to any other person, the 
citizens of Philadelphia owe the beautiful arrange- 
ment of drives, bridle-paths, and walks. Early and 
late, in good weather or bad, the General traversed 
the fields for that purpose, without any pay what- 
ever, simply to serve the city. 

Wlien General Grant became President, Meade, 
relying on Grant's knowledge of his character and 
services during the war, hoped for promotion from 
major-general to lieutenant-general; but no, the de- 

" The head of " Old Bakly " is preserved in Philadelphia by the 
Meade Post of the Grand Army of the Repnblie. 



208 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

sired place fell to Sheridan, who was Grant's close 
friend. This saddened Meade's last days. In 1872 
he died, and his grave can be seen in Laurel Hill 
Cemetery, not far from that of Dr. Kane. 

One who carefully studies the life of General 
Meade must feel that this hero has failed to receive 
the notice which he deserves. Reserved and proud in 
spirit, he avoided putting himself forward. Some 
commanders, more dashing in manner, have attracted 
the attention of popular writers. Meade preferred 
to let his work speak for him. It is upon the work of 
just such sterling characters that the success of our 
nation rests. 



ANDREW GREGG CURTIN. 

1817-1894. 

THE WAR GOVERNOR. 

The Iron-Master's Son. — In the beautiful Bald Eagle 
Valley of Center County stands the town of Belle- 
fonte, so called from a great spring which supplies 
the whole community with clear 
cold water. The iron ore of the 
valley caused the building of 
many iron-furnaces near the 
town. One of these, which is 
yet in existence, is known as the 
Curtin Furnace. Mr. Roland 
Curtin, who built it, became rich 
from its profits. 

Mr. Curtin 's son Andrew 
was born into good conditions. His father was 
wealthy, his relatives influential, and his home 
pleasant. Andrew, furthermore, came into life with 
a strong body, a good temper, and an intelligent 
mind. With all these advantages, he was never too 
proud to associate with those who were \)ooy. His 
playmates in boyhood were the sons of the workmen 
at tbe furnace. With them he wrestled, boxed and 
swam. He led in all their sports. Once he plunged 
into Bald Eagle Creek and rescued a drowning man. 

14 209 




ANDREW GREGQ CURTIN. 



210 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

When Andrew Curtin readied young manhood, 
he was a most handsome fellow. Over six feet tall, 
with bright blue eyes and black hair, broad-shoul- 
dered and manly, he was a son of whom any father 
could be proud. His courtesy and good humor made 
him popular with all his townspeople. It was said: 
*'When Andy Curtin appears on the street, every 
child smiles upon him, and every dog wags its tail." 

Curtin as Lawyer and Public Man. — After Andrew's 
''academy" education had been finished, he decided 
that he would study law, for which his gifts seemed 
to fit him. As soon as he completed his course, one 
of the best lawyers in Bellefonte took him into part- 
nership. Curtin 's striking and handsome frame, his 
strong and musical voice, his command of eloquence 
and wit, gave him immediate success. Soon, when 
''Andy" Curtin spoke, the people thronged the court- 
house. 

Such a popular and able lawyer had a good chance 
to distinguish himself in politics. Curtin belonged to 
the Whig party, and began his "stumping" in 1840 
in behalf of General William Henry Harrison. 
Thenceforward, for several campaigns, Curtin went 
through the State for each succeeding Presidential 
candidate of his party. 

By the time Curtin was forty years old, he was 
known as one of the leaders of the Pennsylvania 
Whigs, and his name was brought forward for Gov- 
ernor. Curtin withdrew, however, in favor of James 



ANDREW GREGG CURTIN 211 

Pollock, one of his friends, and managed the cam- 
paign for Mr. Pollock, who won the contest. In grati- 
tude, Governor Pollock appointed Curtin Secretary 
of the Commonwealth. One of the duties of the Sec- 
retary was to act as Superintendent of the elementary 
schools. This duty Curtin took as a pleasure. He 
did everything possible to improve the school system, 
secured higher salaries for the county superintend- 
ents, and played a great part in establishing the nor- 
mal schools of the 8tate, which supply trained 
teachers. 

Curtin Becomes Governor. — When his term as Sec- 
retary expired, Curtin returned to Bellefonte and his 
law practice, but not for long. The clouds of war 
were darkening over the land. The Whig supporters 
were changing into the Republican party. When 
those Pennsylvanians who opposed slavery held their 
convention at Harrisburg in February, 1860, there 
was no doubt as to the person who should be nomi- 
nated for Governor on the Republican ticket. "Curtin 
or nobody!" they cried. 

Lincoln became the Presidential candidate of the 
Republicans. Pennsylvania was one of the most im- 
portant States in the Union. It was doubtful whether 
the Republicans would carry it. The election for 
Governor then came the month before the Presidential 
election. If Curtin failed to be elected, it would 
seriously injure Lincoln's chance of carrying the 
State. But Curtin did not fail. He spoke in every 



212 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

county, and his eloquence won the day. He was in- 
augurated in January, 1861, two months before Lin- 
coln became President. In his address on that occa- 
sion, the new Governor spoke out boldly on the ques- 
tion of secession: "To permit a State to withdraw 
at pleasure from the Union, without the consent of 
the rest, is to confess that our government is a 
failure." 

Lincoln had watched the Pennsylvania contest 
with heartfelt interest. Curtin himself had done 
much to nominate Lincoln. It was the beginning of 
a friendshij^ which lasted through four years of storm 
and stress, until Booth's bullet cut short the Presi- 
dent's life. When war was actually at hand, Lincoln 
at once turned to Curtin for aid. 

Preparations for War. The Volunteers. — On the 
evening of April 7, 1861, the President telegraphed 
to Curtin, asking him to come to Washington at once. 
Curtin found Lincoln alone and in a sad mood. Fort 
Sumter was threatened by hostile batteries. If it 
were fired upon, that meant war. "It looks as though 
war were close at hand," said Lincoln. "Congress is 
not in session, but the Pennsylvania Legislature is. 
Will your Legislature take measures to aid the Gov- 
ernment even before there is actual war?" "I am 
confident of it, ' ' replied Curtin. ' ' Then do not delay 
a minute," advised the President. 

Governor Curtin took the train for Harrisburg 
that night. By the next morning he had a message 



ANDREW GREGG CURTIN 213 

ready for the Legislature. The message called upon 
the Legislature to make preparations for any condi- 
tion of war that might arise. That was done at once. 
It was high time. Three days later the Confederates 
began their cannonade of Fort Sumter. 

Excitement filled the North. Lincoln called upon 
the country for 75,000 volunteers, of whom Pennsyl- 
vania was to furnish fourteen regiments, or about one- 
sixth of the whole. Within four days after the call, 
five hundred Pennsylvanians, in grimy working 
clothes, just as they had left their toil, arrived in 
Washington. They were the first to respond to their 
country's summons, but not the last. In two weeks 
the Keystone State sent, not fourteen regiments, but 
twenty-five, and so fast did volunteers pour in, that 
thirty additional regiments could have been des- 
patched. The fair-ground at Harrisburg was turned 
into a camp for the men and was called Camp Curtin. 

The Pennsylvania Reserves. — General Patterson, an 
experienced officer, to whom the Government had 
given oversight of Pennsylvania's supply of men, saw 
the pressing need for a large force, and asked Curtin 
to send twenty-five thousand additional men. The 
Governor at once issued the call, and there was a 
splendid response. But as the volunteers were flock- 
ing to the camps, word came from the Secretary of 
War, Simon Cameron, himself a Pennsylvanian, that 
it was all a mistake, the extra troops were not needed, 
and that, indeed, he would rather not have had as 



214 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

many men from Pennsylvania as had been sent 
already. 

We can scarcely now imagine tliat so many per- 
sons at that time, both in the North and the South, 
•expected the war to be of small extent and slight 
duration. It was a rather common belief that the war 
would be settled in three months. Each side under- 
rated the bravery and endurance of the other. Curtin 
saw, more clearly than did Cameron, the greatness 
of the conflict which was beginning. He asked the 
Legislature to permit him to outfit and keep fifteen 
regiments to be held ready for aid to the Government. 
These troops became known as the Pennsylvania Re- 
serves. For their commanding officer Curtin tried 
to secure George B. McClellan, who was then in Ohio, 
but Ohio gave McClellan a commission as general be- 
fore this could be done. General George A. McCall 
then assumed command of the Reserves. 

The defeat at Bull Run taught the Government the 
danger of relying on a small force of three-months 
volunteers. Lincoln now called for 400,000 men. 
Cameron appealed to Curtin to send the Reserves at 
once — there was no more talk of having too many 
soldiers. In four days after the Bull Run disaster, 
eleven regiments of the Reserves, read}^ for active 
service, and sworn to remain for three years, if neces- 
sary, were in Washington. 

The Soldiers' Friend. — To every Pennsylvania regi- 
ment in the field Curtin gave a battle-flag bearing its 



ANDREW GREGG CURTIN 215 

number. In person he presented each flag to its regi- 
ment and inspired all the men by his stirring speeches. 
He promised to care for the soldiers of his State in 
sickness, and to provide for the widows and orphans 
of those who might perish. Nobly Curtin redeemed 
that promise ; he was known through the whole State 
as the Soldiers' Friend. 

During the first year of the war, about ninety 
thousand men of Pennsylvania were called to service 
in the Union army, and in all, through the Civil War, 
close to 300,000 were enlisted. Great as was the task 
of raising and outfitting such a force, it was much 
less than the maintenance of these men in comfort and 
health while in the field. Although the Government 
was sujDposed to have entire charge of them, Curtin 
was not satisfied unless Pennsylvania could help in 
caring for their wants. 

Curtin, therefore, appointed Clenrent Biddle Bar- 
clay of Philadelphia to take charge of this work. Mr. 
Barclay accepted on the uncommon condition that he 
should receive no salary and should pay his own ex- 
penses. This appointment was observed and imitated 
by other States, but Pennsylvania had the honor of 
being first. 

The Altoona Conference. — The early part of the war 
went against the Union forces. All through the North 
there were many persons — the "peace at any price" 
men — who thought the war was wrong, or a failure, 
and tried to have it end. Governor Curtin, in order to 



216 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

check this feeling, issued au invitation to the North- 
ern Governors to hokl a meeting, for the purpose of 
considering how the Governnrent might he more 
strongly supported and how the loyalty of the people 
might be increased. 

In September, 1862, just after the battle of Antie- 
tam, which stopped Lee's invasion of the North, a 
number of the Governors met at Altoona. This meet- 
ing has been called the Altoona Conference. When 
they met, they heard that Lincoln, in consequence of 
the battle, had issued his Emancii)ation Proclamation. 
For two days the Governors discussed affairs, then 
went to Washington and presented to the President 
an address, signed by twelve of them, which upheld his 
action in issuing the Proclamation. They asked Lin- 
coln to keep on hand in the various States a reserve 
army of 100,000, and pledged "loyal and cordial sup- 
port, hereafter as heretofore." This Conference gave 
the people more confidence in the Government's wis- 
dom and strength, and silenced much complaint. It 
gave Lincoln fresh courage for his heavy task. 

The next year, 1863, Curtin's term of office ex- 
pired. His constant anxiety to do his best for the 
Union and for his State had injured his health. He 
wished to give his office into other hands. Lincoln 
offered him a post as foreign minister. When Cur- 
tin's friends heard of his intention to retire, thej^ 
begged him to change his mind. "Who knows when 
the war will end?" they said. "Who can direct af- 



ANDREW GREGG CURTIN 



217 



fairs, in this trying time, so well as yon?" Curtiu 
was persuaded to accept the renomination, and was 
elected for another three years. 

Soldiers' Orphans, Gettysburg Cemetery. — Thanks- 
giving Day of 1863 was a day of thanksgiving indeed 
to the citizens of Penn- 
sylvania. Lee had been 
hurled back from their 
State. Vicksburg had 
fallen, the high-water 
mark of the Confeder- 
acy had been reached, 
and now Southern for- 
tunes were declining. 
But, by the fierce con- 
flicts and the diseases of 
the camp, many thou- 
sands of Union soldiers 
had lost their lives. 

As Grovernor Curtin andrew gregg cuhtin and the two 

I'OOR CHILDREN 

stepped out of his gate 

on that Thanksgiving Day, two ragged children ap- 
proached him, begging for help. Their father had 
been killed in battle. Though he relieved the need 
of the children, thoughts of the many more who were 
in want through the same cause continued to oppress 
him. lie resolved that such children should be well 
eared for. 

From that day Curtin never rested until numerous 




218 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

schools for soldiers' orphans were established. Be- 
fore he died, he had the happiness of seeing built a 
large school to accommodate all such "wards of the 
iState, " over a thousand in number. This school not 
only gave food, clothing and shelter, but also taught 
the girls and boys various trades. It was located at 
Scotland, Franklin County, four miles north of 
Chambersburg. 

Immediately after the battle of Gettysburg, Gov- 
ernor Curtin secured a piece of ground on Cemetery 
Hill, where all the dead were decently buried. He 
secured the co-operation of the other States whose 
men lay there, in erecting a handsome monument. 
The grounds were to be owned by Pennsylvania, and 
the other States were to join her in keeping them in 
good condition. When the cemetery was dedicated, 
that year. President Lincoln made his famous Gettys- 
burg address, with which everyone should be familiar. 
The entire battlefield is now the property of the 
United States and is one of the most famous places in 
our countr}^ 

The Confederates at Chambersburg. Return of the 
Battle-Flags. — In 1864, Pennsylvania was again in- 
vaded. The Confederates appeared before Chamb'ers- 
burg and demanded a ransom of $500,000 in green- 
backs or $100,000 in gold. They were told that Cham- 
bersburg could not and would not pay. The Confed- 
erate commander then set the town on fire. In a few 
hours three thousand people were homeless. This 



ANDREW GREGG CURTIN 219 

was the only town within the limits of the Union 
States that was totally destroyed during the war. 
Governor Curtin was then staying at Bedford 
Springs, not far away, and the Confederates, who 
knew this, thought it would be a fine thing to capture 
the "War Governor." Fortunately he received word 
of the Southern advance in time to escape. 

At last the war ended. The soldiers returned to 
their homes, but it was not until 1866 that the battle- 
flags which Curtin had presented were returned to the 
State. Then, on July 4, in Independence Square, 
Philadelphia, Curtin accepted them from General 
Meade. They came back, some torn by shell and 
bullets, some blood-stained, to be inscribed with the 
battles through which the regiments had gone and 
then to be laid away in the State Capitol. 

End of Curtin's Term. Minister to Russia. — Curtin 's 
term of office, the most trying but the most distin- 
guished which any Pennsylvania Governor has had, 
was over. President Johnson offered him a post as 
foreign minister, but as Curtin differed from the 
President on the great question of reconstruction, he 
did not wish to accept any favor at Johnson's hands. 

In the convention where Grant was nominated for 
President, Curtin's name was brought forward for 
Vice-President, but not successfully. Curtin worked 
hard to have Grant elected, and when Grant became 
President he made Curtin Minister to Russia. The 
Russians, themselves famous for their fine appear- 



220 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ance, admired this splendid-looking man, and were 
captivated by his pleasant manners. During his 
three years' stay, he did much to keep matters har- 
monious between the two countries. 

Curtin's Ways of Kindness. — This ended Curtin's 
public life. For fifteen years more he lived quietly 
in Bellefonte. Everyone knew and reverenced him, 
and his heart went out to all. One bitter cold even- 
ing he was on the street. An old man, a former work- 
man at the Curtin Furnace, came along. The old 
fellow had no warm clothing to protect him, and was 
shivering. ''Is that you, Andy?" said he. "Yes, 
Tom," answered Curtin, "What have you been do- 
ing, and Where's your overcoat?" "I've been chop- 
ping wood on the mountain, and I haven't any over- 
coat. Times are hard, and all my money is needed to 
buy food for the family." "Here, take mine!" said 
Curtin, and in a flash he had wrapped it about the old 
man's shoulders. 

Such acts as these endeared him to his townspeo- 
ple; but his charity was not confined to them. No 
old soldier ever went unrelieved away from Curtin's 
door. Once the courthouse bell called the citizens of 
Bellefonte together to take measures to supply the 
need of another Pennsylvania town which had been 
wrecked by flood. The meeting began to elect various 
officers, but the tall form of Governor Curtin rose 
in the midst. ""Wliat talk is this," he cried, "of 
presidents and vice-presidents, while others are suf- 



ANDREW GllEGlG CURTIN 221 

fering?" Pie turned to the people. "Run to your 
homes ; bring" whatever you can to the railroad station. 
I will furnish cars and men to load them!" In a 
couple of hours a train-load of supplies went out. 
That was C'urtin's waj^ of getting things done. When 
he died, in fulness of years, Belief onte mourned as 
it had never done before, and there was given to the 
great War Governor, as the veterans had promised, 
the "biggest soldier's funeral that the valley ever 
saw." 



THADDEUS STEVENS. 
I 792-1868. 
LEADER OF CONGRESS. 
" The debt of a child to his mother, you know, is one of the 
debts we can never pay." 

Thaddeus the Widow's Son. — In the northeastern 
part of Vermont lived a widow with four young- boys. 
This mother, Mrs. Stevens, although desperately 
poor, determined that her boys 
should be educated. For this 
end she worked day and night. 
Her youngest son, Thaddeus, 
was sickly and had a club-foot. 
To make up for his weakness of 
body, she determined to give him 
the best education in the family. 
The name of Thaddeus Ste- 
vens has become famous, but 
the service of his mother, who toiled to furnish him 
the means of becoming great, should be no less re- 
membered. Thaddeus himself never forgot it. When 
he became successful, he amply provided for her com- 
fort. His will directed that a certain sum should be 
set aside and its interest devoted to keep, every 
spring-time forever, ''roses and other cheerful 
flowers" about her grave. 

Disturbance at Graduation Day. College Days. — 
Mrs. Stevens' pleasure at seeing Thaddeus graduate 
222 




THADDEUS STEVENS. 



THADDEUS STEVENS 223 

from the academy of their home town was somewhat 
lessened by a disturbance which he caused upon that 
occasion. The severe rules of the old-fashioned 
academy forbade any exhibitions of speaking by 
candle-light or any theatrical performances. Thad- 
deus, having a natural taste for public speaking and 
dramas, prevailed on a dozen of his classmates to join 
in presenting a play on the evening of graduation 
day. This was in keeping with the independence of 
action which he always .displayed, but the young 
tragedians came near to being deprived of their di- 
plomas, and were compelled to sign a paper acknowl- 
edging their wrong-doing. 

From the little home academy to the large college 
went the eager student, and from Dartmouth College 
in New Hampshire, the same college which Daniel 
Webster had attended, Thaddeus graduated just at 
the close of the War of 1812. He was then twenty-two 
years old, a young man of imposing appearance in 
si3ite of his lameness, which obliged him to use a cane. 
He was tall, with flashing eyes and clear-cut features. 
Unfortunately, he possessed a hasty temper, and when 
in anger his speech became biting; but to make up 
for this his heart was large, and his mind just. 

The York Law Student. Thoughts on Slavery. — 
This youth of ready speech and keen mind found an 
attraction in the study of law. Vermont, however, a 
State of poor and scattered population, offered a poor 
field for beginning. As soon, therefore, as Thaddeus 



224 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Stevens decided to enter the profession, lie removed 
to York in Pennsylvania, where lie became a teacher 
in the academy, and thus supported himself while 
studying law. 

York lay near to Mason and Dixon's line, beyond 
which stretched the slave State of Maryland. Slaves 
fleeing from their masters frequently crossed that 
line. The owners followed to claim them. This led 
to many quarrels between slave-holders and those who 
tried to protect fugitives. To the young student from 
Vermont such scenes were new. He had always been 
against slavery, but now he began to bitterly hate it. 
"Slaves have no rights," he reflected. "All men 
should be equal in rights if we can make them so." 
Equality grew to be his controlling thought. 

When Thaddeus Stevens had finished his study of 
law he removed to Gettysburg. Here he was un- 
known and for a time found little chance to show the 
talent which he knew that he possessed. His oppor- 
tunity came at last in a murder case. No other lawyer 
cared to defend the prisoner, because it was certain 
that he would be convicted. Stevens undertook the 
case. Although the decision of course went against 
him, he astonished every one by his skill and elo- 
quence. Now he had gained a reputation. iSoon he 
was recognized as the best lawyer in Gettysburg, and 
kept that position during the fifteen years he 
remained there. 

Until he reached the age of forty, Stevens took no 



THADDEUS STEVENS 225 

part in politics. James Buchanan, when one of his 
fellow-lawyers, several years before, had advised him 
to speak in support of Andrew Jackson, but Stevens 
became a member of the party which was against 
slavery, the Whig party. He was elected as a State 
Eepresentative from Adams County. When he at- 
tempted to get the Legislature to grant money for 
Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, he found much 
ojDposition. Always in favor of education, Stevens 
persisted, and made a speech which won enough votes 
to secure the money. The College afterward gave to 
one of its finest buildings the name of Stevens Hall. 

Stevens Secures Free Public Schools. — Adams 
County re-elected Stevens the next year, and thus 
gave him opportunity for the work which he said was 
the greatest achievement of his life. We are used to 
thinking of education in our public schools as a gift 
from our State, provided by taxation on an equal rate 
to all ; but at that time each child who attended school 
was obliged to pay tuition in that school. The State 
paid for no children except those whose parents de- 
clared they were unable to pay. The children whose 
education was thus provided by the State were gen- 
erally regarded as paupers, and were taunted, on 
account of their poverty, by the ''pay scholars." 
Many children of poor parents were kept at home 
for this reason and thus were deprived of education. 

At last the State passed an act to establish free 
public schools for all children. This seemed to mean 

15 



226 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

extra taxation, however, and nearly half the school 
districts of Pennsylvania i^aid no attention to the new 
law. Many members of the Legislature were defeated 
for re-election because they had voted for the act. 
The State Senate voted to repeal it, and it seemed cer- 
tain that the House would do so. Those Representa- 
tives who still favored free public schools consulted 
together and decided it was useless to opi30se repeal. 

Thaddeus Stevens was not present at this meeting. 
Business had called him away from Harrisburg. 
When he returned, his fellow-representative from 
Adams County told him that three-fourths of the 
voters from that county had petitioned to have the 
law repealed, and advised him to yield to the popular 
feeling. He did not know the man to whom he was 
speaking. Stevens was too firm a friend of education. 
He remembered his mother's sacrifices, and wished to 
make it easier for other mothers to have their chil- 
dren educated. He did not intend to follow any dic- 
tates except those of his own conscience. 

When the time came for consideration of the mat- 
ter, Stevens rose and delivered a remarkable speech. 
The old law, he declared, should have been called "An 
Act for Branding and Marking the Poor." "Let 
Pennsylvania," said .Stevens, "build her monuments, 
not of brass or marble, but of ever-living mind. Let 
her polish the intellectual gems of her children. Take 
lofty ground ; look beyond the passing point of time 
on which we stand, and so cast your votes that the 



THADDEUS STEVENS 227 

blessing of education shall be carried home to the 
poorest child of the poorest inhabitant of the meanest 
hut." 

His speech turned the House from its purpose. 
Immediately a vote was taken, and a considerable 
majority declared in favor of preserving free public 
schools. The members of the Senate, who had sat in 
the galleries and listened to the plea, returned to their 
own hall and voted in the same way. Governor Wolf 
sent for the orator, embraced him, warmly thanking 
him for the great service he had rendered humanity. 
Our public schools should never forget to honor 
Thaddeus Stevens for the speech that turned the tide. 

Stevens the Eloquent. — Stevens was now consid- 
ered as the most eloquent man of Pennsylvania. His 
fiery speech and unsparing ridicule of those who op- 
posed him made him dreaded in debate. On one occa- 
sion a convention was held at Harrisburg for the 
purpose of repressing the anti-slavery movement. 
In some way Stevens became a member of the 
convention, and therefore had a right to take 
part; but he came to interfere with the proceed- 
ings, not to aid them. He soon made himself the 
most prominent figure, objected, delayed, and ridi- 
culed, and could be '^neither answered nor sup- 
pressed." The convention could do no business, and 
adjourned without even fixing another time for 
meeting. 

For nearly ten years Stevens remained a member 



228 NOTED PENNSYLVANIAlSTS 

of the Legislature, but in doing so he neglected his 
private affairs. At the age of fifty, through the failure 
of a business partner, he found himself deeply in 
debt. He returned to the practice of law, and chose 
Lancaster as his home. Here he matched himself, in 
an important case, against the foremost lawyer of the 
town, worsted him, and became leader of the Lancas- 
ter bar. Although he devoted considerable time to 
defending, without pay, fugitive slaves, in six years 
Ire had paid off nearly two hundred thousand dollars 
of obligations. 

Stevens in Congress. The Slavery Question. — In 
1849 Stevens became a member of Congress. He was 
now nearly sixty, far older than most of the other 
Representatives. The slavery question then over- 
shadowed all others. Stevens made no secret of his 
hostility to slavery, and was impatient of compro- 
mises. "The way to abolish slavery," he said, "is to 
confine it to those States which have it already. They 
will see its disastrous effects on them as compared 
with other States which are free, and in less than 
twenty-five years every slave-holding State will have a 
law for the gradual and final abolition of slavery." 

Henry Clay's compromise Fugitive Slave Law, 
which attempted to comjiel the Northern people to 
assist slave-holders in regaining their escaped 
negroes, was hated by Stevens. He not only voted 
against it, but declared also that the men of his county 
would never obey this "tyranny." The next few 



THADDEUS STEVENS 



229 



years showed that Clay's compromises could not pre- 
vent contention over slavery. 

President Buchanan's inactivity j^ave confidence 
to the Southerners. They openly jjrepared for seces- 



amo. 




THET PUSHED TOWARD HIM WITH CURSES AND THREATS. 

sion. When Lincoln was elected President, their 
anger knew no bounds. The Southern States seized 
forts and arsenals. Many Northern statesmen were 
appalled at the prosjyect of war. The eagle nature of 
Thaddeus Stevens had no such fear. 



230 NOTED PENNSYLVANIA'S 

In a speech in the House he defied the secessionists. 
"The time for compromises," he said, ''has gone by, 
and the virtue now needed is courage, calm, unwaver- 
ing courag'e. I do not believe that the Southern 
States can be turned from their deliberate and stern 
purpose by soft words. The time has come for deter- 
mining whether secession is rightful. If I cannot be 
a freeman, let me cease to exist. If the present gov- 
ernment should be torn to pieces by rebels, our next 
United States will contain no foot of ground on which 
a slave can tread." 

"Nearly fifty Southern members," says an eye- 
witness, "rose to their feet and rushed toward him 
with curses and threats. As many of his friends gath- 
ered around him, and moving him in a hollow square 
to the space in front of the -Speaker, ojjened before 
his assailants, and stood guard over him while he 
finished his speech." 

Stevens Leads the Ways and Means Committee. — 
The war began. To carry it on an immense sum of 
money was needed at once. Lincoln asked Congress 
to grant four hundred million dollars. This was seven 
times the amount of annual revenue during Buch- 
anan's administration, and was to be raised from only 
two-thirds of the territory previously taxed, for 
eleven States had left the Union. The committee 
of Congress whose duty it was to decide the proper 
sums to grant for various objects and the best means 
to raise money was called the Ways and Means Com- 



THADDEUS STEVENS 231 

mittee. Its chairman was Thaddeus Stevens, and lie 
remained in that position during the entire war. 

Faithfully Stevens and his associates on the com- 
mittee carried out their great task. "Greenbacks" 
(United States notes) were issued, bonds were sold, 
taxes of every kind were levied. The butcher had to 
pay tax on every animal he killed, the manufacturer 
paid on every piece of goods which his workmen 
made. Beside the many other taxes, a certain per- 
centage of a man's yearly income was taken. The 
burden grew heavy, but it was necessary to preserve 
the Union. 

Stevens, as chairman, had to do much of the plan- 
ning to carry into effect the great scheme of taxation, 
embody the thoughts of the committee into bills, 
present these bills to the Plouse of Representatives, 
explain them and defend them from unimportant ob- 
jections. It was a tremendous task; but Stevens was 
never too busy to express his bold ideas concerning 
emancipation. "The slave," said he, "is the main- 
stay of the South. While the white men fight in the 
Confederate ranks, the black men are raising food 
and making war material for them. All slaves who 
leave their masters should be proclaimed free, and 
those who wish to join our army should b"e gladly 
received." 

These views were too bold to suit the majority of 
Congress at that time, but events proved that to free 
the slaves was the wisest course. Lincoln himself 



232 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Then Ste- 
vens brought forward a bill to allow negroes to become 
soldiers. Many in Congress bitterly opposed him, but 
the bill passed, and thousands upon thousands of 
negroes enlisted to strengthen the Northern army. 

Reconstruction. — The seceding States finally laid 
down their arms. Now what must be done to recon- 
struct the Union as it was before? Were the South- 
ern States in the Union or out of it? What must these 
States do to show their good faith before again being 
permitted to have representation in the national 
government ? 

Lincoln, ever kind and g'enerous, had wished to 
make it easy for the seceding States to once more 
take their stand with the rest of the nation. Andrew 
Johnson, his successor, who had been "war gov- 
ernor" of Tennessee, inclined toward Lincoln's way 
of thinking. lie expected to see the Southern States 
again in full membership in the Union without much 
delay. But he had not sufficiently counted on the 
opposition of Thaddeus Stevens. 

On the shoulders of Stevens, now an old man, had 
rested for four years the weight of providing means 
to support the war. He had seen the distress, the 
ruin, the death caused by secession. Can he be 
greatly blamed for wishing to be absolutely sure that 
the secession movement was dead before allowing 
those States to be again represented in Congress? 



THADDEUS 8TEVENS 233 

He had uo doubt whether the eleven States were in- 
side or outside the Union. ^'They put themselves 
outside," he said. ''They made war against the 
Union. They lost ; now their land is conquered land, 
and they have no rights in this government until we 
choose to readmit them. We shall not readmit them 
until they have carried out the conditions which are 
necessary to show their good intentions." 

During the summer of 1865, Congress was not in 
session. President Johnson took up the work of "re- 
construction," and made several "provisional gov- 
ernments" among the Southern States. These recon- 
structed States sent representatives to Congress, but 
when these men appeared, Congress, led by Thaddeus 
Stevens, refused to receive them until a Committee 
on Reconstruction should consider the matter. 
Stevens, of course, became a leading member of that 
committee. 

Stevens Opposes President Johnson. — The President 
was enraged because his attempts at reconstruction 
had been set aside. The fault mainly rested with the 
Southern States which had been given "provisional 
governments." These States had made some laws 
which practically reduced negroes to slavery again. 
But Johnson said that "Thad Stevens and his gang" 
were laboring to destroy tlie principles of our govern- 
ment, and that Stevens ought to be hanged. 

The bills concerning reconstruction whicli Con- 
gress sent up to the President were all vetoed by him, 



234 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

and Congress promptly passed them over his veto. 
The quarrel between Andrew Johnson and Congress 
grew more and more bitter, until the former gave his 
enemies a chance to imi^each him. He dismissed 
Edwin M. Stanton, his .Secretary of War, in viola- 
tion of an act (the Tenure of Office Act) which Con- 
gress had passed. 

Impeachment and Trial of the President. — On the day 
after Stanton had been dismissed, Thaddeus Stevens 
presented in Congress a resolution declaring that 
"Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, be 
impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors in of- 
fice." Excitement was so great among the specta- 
tors that the Speaker called on the police to aid in 
preserving order. After three days of debate, the 
resolution passed. For the first and only time in 
our history thus far, a President would be on trial 
before our lawmakers. 

The House appointed a committee of two, Stevens 
being the chairman, to appear before the Senate and 
declare the impeachment. Old age was now upon 
Stevens; his health had so broken that he often was 
carried about the Capitol in a chair ; but he gathered 
his strength for the great occasion and delivered his 
message with a solemn manner that thrilled all the 
listeners. 

Stevens helped to prepare the various charges on 
which the President was to be impeached, and was 
one of the "Managers" who argued the case before 



THADDEUS STEVENS 235 

the Senate. When, on account of weakness, he could 
talk no longer, his fellow-managers would read his 
speech for him. Johnson engaged the ablest lawyers 
to defend him, and escaped conviction by one vote. 
The United iStates has since rejoiced that he did es- 
cape, for he was entirely honest in the object which 
he tried to attain. The dispute between Johnson and 
Stevens was a difference of politics, not of morals. 
Each tried to serve the country in his own way. 

Stevens had exhausted the last of his strength in 
this remarkable trial. For eight years he had been 
the leader of Congress. He was now seventy-six 
j'Cars old, and brain and body were both worn out. 
But his cheerfulness and courage remained. "I am 
going to die in harness," he remarked. "I mean to 
die hurrahing." A month after Congress adjourned 
that summer he passed away. 

In the Lancaster County district which Stevens 
represented in Congress, the primary election for 
Representative had been fixed for the end of the week 
at whose beginning he died. The news of his death 
reached Lancaster at once, but no other candidates 
wished to seem to be unfeeling by presenting them- 
selves while his body was yet unburied. The voters 
were left to choose at random. At the election, 
although all knew that their beloved representative 
was gone, every vote, as a tribute of respect, was cast 
for Thaddeus Stevens. 

On the monument in Lancaster graveyard where 



236 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

his body was laid, is the inscription, composed by him- 
self : "Finding other cemeteries limited as to race, I 
have chosen this, that I might illustrate in death the 
principles which I advocated through a long life, 
equality of man before his Creator. " No wonder that 
one who wrote the life of Stevens called him "The 
Great Commoner." 



ANDREW CARNEGIE. 

1837- 
THE KING OF STEEL. 

" It is everything to feel that you are useful." 

The Weaver's Son. — In the days when cloth was 
made by wooden hand-looms, many of the people of 
Scotland supported themselves by weaving. Most 
weavers worked in their own 
homes and earned a good liv- 
ing. The little town of Dun- 
fermline had many such. Mr. 
Carnegie, one of these, was a 
prosperous master-weaver who 
employed several apprentices. 

There were two sons in 
the Carnegie familj', the elder, 
named Andrew, a short sturdy 
lad, full of grit and pluck. Until Andrew was eight 
years old he received his education from his good 
mother, who fixed in his mind many wise sayings. 
When Andrew did attend the Dunfermline school, 
the teacher one day asked him to repeat a proverb 
from the Bible. The proverbs which his mother had 
taught were all equally prized by Andrew, so he stood 
up and repeated: ''Take care of your pence, and the 
pounds will take care of themselves." 

Emigration to America. — The lad's school days 

237 




Y 

ANDREW CARNEGIE. 



238 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

ended at an early age. Steel looms driven by steam 
came into use through Scotland. Many of these looms 
were driven at once by the power of an engine, and 
great factories were built which contained hundreds 
of machines. The factories made cloth more cheaply 
than hand-weavers could. Mr. Carnegie's business 
grew less until he could scarcely supjDort his family. 

Some of the weaver's relatives had gone to Pitts- 
burgh, a few years before, and had prospered. He 
too decided to emigrate to America. The family left 
Glasgow on a sailing-vessel, for steamships had not 
then driven off the ocean that way of carrying pas- 
sengers. Andrew, who was thirteen years old, much 
enjoyed the seven weeks' trip. 

Andrew's Toil. — In Pittsburgh the father s'ecured 
work in a cotton-mill. Andrew worked there too, at 
the large wages of a dollar and twenty cents per week. 
It was such hard labor, that, looking back upon it, 
Andrew called it ^'slavery," but with (Scotch persist- 
ence he worked away until he found a position that 
paid better. 

The new task consisted of firing the boiler and 
helping to run the steam-engine in a small factory. 
Neglect of duty might cause a bad accident. Few 
boys of fourteen could have been trusted with such a 
position. Andrew felt the strain. Often at night he 
would awaken from a terrible dream that something 
had gone wrong. ''This will not last always," was 
his comforting thought. 



ANDREW CARNEGIE 239 

In the Telegraph Office. — A better chance came at 
last ; Mr. Carnegie happened to meet a man who had 
come from Dunfermline and was then manager of a 
telegraph office. When the latter learned that he had 
found a fellow-townsman, he asked if there were any 
favor which he could show. ''Give Andy a berth," 
said the father, and Andy got one. 

The new work filled Andy with delight, thougli it 
was only that of a messenger-boy. He now received 
three whole dollars a week, and thought himself the 
happiest fifteen-year-old boy alive. Though the lad 
was little, and always remained so, he had spirit 
enough for a giant. Before he had been a month in 
his new "berth" he asked the manager to teach him 
how to telegraph. The manager did so, and found 
that Andrew made an apt pupil. 

Learners on the telegraph had not much chance for 
practice. They had to be at the office early in the 
morning before the regular operators arrived — there 
was then no night service — and send messages to each 
other along the line. Almost every operator then 
read off the received messages as the telegraph in- 
strument wrote them in dots and dashes on a long 
paper tape. A few of the best operators learned to 
und'erstand the clicks of the key, and so dispensed 
with a tape. Andrew saw the quickness of this second 
way and learned to read messages by soimd. 

Soon Andrew could telegraph as well as the man- 
ager hims'elf, and when he was sixteen he became a 



240 



NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 



regular operator at six dollars a week. This aid 
came not a moment too soon, for Mr. Carnegie had 
just died, and Andrew's money was needed at home. 




ANDREW SENT ORDERS UNDER MR. SCOTT S NAME. 



In the Railroad Service. — Mr. Thomas A. Scott, su- 
perintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad, often had occasion to visit the tele- 
graph office. Andrew handled most of his messages, 
and Mr. Scott noticed how bright and quick was the 
little young operator. One day he offered Andrew a 



ANDREW CARNEGIE 241 

position as operator for the railroad, at an increased 
salary. Andrew promptly accepted. He had made 
another upward step. 

i^ndrew grew to be a great favorite with Mr. 
Scott. One morning an accident happened on a line 
of the railroad. There was but one track, and the 
trains fell into confusion. Mr. Scott had not arrived 
at his office and it seemed that there was no one ready 
to give orders. Time was precious. Andrew sent 
orders under Mr. iScott's name to the conductors, and 
had the trains running again by the time his chief 
appeared. 

Mr. Scott's Friendship. — Mr. Scott now regarded 
Andrew as his right-hand man, and soon made him 
private secretary. Through his employer Andrew 
entered upon his first important investment. Mr. 
Scott came to the youth and told him that there was 
a chance to make a good investment in the stock of 
the Adams Express Company. If Andrew could lay 
his hands on five hundred dollars, Mr. iScott would 
advance a hundred. 

''Can you get the money, Andy?" asked the su- 
perintendent. "Yes," confidently answered Andrew, 
although he had no idea whence it would come. He 
laid the problem before his mother, trusting in her 
advice as he had already done on many occasions. 
"We will mortgage the house," she said. It was 
done, and Andrew became a stockholder. His shares 
proved to be an excellent bargain. 
16 



242 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Carnegie During the War. — When the Civil War 
broke out, Lincoln made Mr. Scott Assistant Secre- 
tary of War, as the transport of troojDs and supplies 
from North to South fell largely on him. During the 
early years of the war it was necessary for Scott to 
be at Washington, and during his absence from Pitts- 
burgh Andrew Carnegie had to fill Scott's place. 

This was a most responsible task for a young man 
barely twenty-three. Even in times of peace the work 
would have been hard, but it was doubly so in war- 
time. It fell to his lot to be present at several battles. 
At Bull Run he was one of the last to leave the field. 
The horrors of war so deeply impressed Carnegie's 
mind that ever afterward he preached peace with all 
his might. 

While the war yet continued, Carnegie was trav- 
elling one day upon the railroad. A stranger ap- 
proached him and asked if he were connected with 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. On receiving the young 
man's answer, the stranger drew from his bag the 
model of a sleeping-car. As yet there were no rail- 
roads across the continent, and long trips were not 
so common as in our days, but Carnegie saw the value 
of the idea. He praised the invention to Mr. Scott, 
a sleeping-car company was formed, and Carnegie 
bought shares in it which paid him well. Foresight 
and insight — these are the qualities which make men 
great. 

Shortly after this incident, Carnegie received pro- 



ANDREW CARNEGIE 243 

motion to the same position as superintendent which 
Mr. Scott had held. His salary was good, his invest- 
ments profitable, and he had some capital in hand. 
Colonel Drake had '^ struck oil" in Pennsylvania, not 
far from Pittsburgh. Andrew and some friends sub- 
scribed forty thousand dollars and bought a farm on 
Oil Creek. It was rich in petroleum, and their in- 
vestment brought them a million dollars — surely a 
good percentage of profit! 

Carnegie Enters the Iron Business. — While still in 
the employ of the railroad, Carnegie saw the profits 
which were being made in the iron business. He 
bought an interest in an iron company, and considered 
deeply the ways in which its trade could be extended. 
Andrew Carnegie was always reaching out for larger 
fields of endeavor. 

Up to this time railroad bridges usually had been 
made of wood, as stone was costly. These wooden 
bridges were apt to decay, and become unsafe. Many 
were burned. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 
built a bridge of iron as an experiment, and it proved 
satisfactory. Carnegie, with his business insight, saw 
the chance. He forthwith formed a company to make 
and erect iron bridges. 

Carnegie induced Edgar Thomson, president of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and his old 
friend. Colonel Scott, who was now vice-president, 
to buy stock in his bridge company. Many lesser offi- 
cers of the road followed their example. The backing 



244 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

given by the railroad made the new company pros- 
perous. 

Since fortune thus smiled upon liim, Carnegie re- 
signed Lis railroad position at the clos'e of the war. 
The demand for iron manufactures, however, fell 
greatly after the war, and remained thus for three 
years. Many iron companies failed, but Carnegie, 
who had the friendship of numerous railroad men, 
kept his company going during that dark time by the 
large orders which he secured. 

In order to meet men of influence, the young 
iron-merchant took up his residence in New York. He 
had reasoned out his principles of success. "To make 
money" he thought, ''one must spend money." 
Therefore he lived at one of the best hotels, enter- 
tained, travelled, nret distinguished persons, made 
hosts of friends— and brought in the business. 

Although Carnegie had a naturally quick mind and 
was a great reader, he realized his lack of education 
as soon as he began to enter into New York society. 
He engaged teachers and went through a long course 
of study. Thus he fitted himself to converse intelli- 
gently with those whose early advantages had been 
greater. No one need grow too old to study and learn, 

Carnegie in the Steel Business. — As iron had dis- 
placed wood for many purposes, so steel was about to 
displace iron. In England Mr. Bessemer invented a 
way of making steel quickly and in large amounts. 
Carnegie, while on a visit to Great Britain, saw this 



ANDREW CARNEaiE 245 

done. For years he had known that there was such 
a process, but had been doubtful of its success. Now 
the sight of the big "converter" blazing out its vol- 
leys of sparks swept away all doubt. 

As quickly as steam could propel him, Carnegie 
rushed back to America, convinced his partners that 
the age of steel was coming and persuaded them to 
form a new company for steel manufacture. Car- 
negie furnished a large share of the capital. On the 
spot where Braddock had been defeated -in the forest, 
the company put up a large steel works. Carnegie 
called it the Edgar Thomson Works, after his good 
friend the railroad president, and Mr. Thomson was 
a profitable customer. 

The old-fashioned masters in the iron trade scoffed 
at Carnegie 's ways of doing business. ' ' Pie has bitten 
off more than he can chew," they said. "He'll come 
to grief by this launching out." But they did not 
understand Andrew Carnegie. 

Large manufacturers are often called "captains 
of industry." Carnegie was more; we must call him 
a general of industry. The "practical" side of mak- 
ing iron and steel he did not understand. He hired 
other men who knew. But he thoroughly understood 
how to secure orders, make profits, and get work out 
of other people. His partners stayed on the spot and 
saw to the actual producing of iron and steel. 

Through the railroad boom in the United States, 
following the completion of track-laying to the Pacific, 



246 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

Carnegie's iron company had made large profits. 
Now in the new company the iron furnaces and steel 
works combined to bring gain. The railroads had 
found that their iron rails lasted but two years, so 
that when steel rails were made they drove iron ones 
out of use. The Edgar Thomson Steel Works drew a 
flood of work and of profit from the new business. 

Andrew Carnegie believed with heart and soul in 
the future of the steel industry. As partners died or 
wished to withdraw, he bought their shares until he 
became master of affairs. His interest was all in 
steel. Never did he si^eculate in the stock market. 
Never did he become a director in other concerns, 
though he was often begged to do so. 

Management of Business. — When Carnegie became 
master, his wonderful management of business ap- 
peared. He saw to it that there were orders in plenty 
and drove his men furiously to fill the orders. The 
mills worked twenty-four hours a day, seven days a 
week. The roar and the blaze never ceased. 

The best manager that Carnegie could procure 
had charge of the work, and the men themselves re- 
ceived high wages — but every one must work his 
hardest all the time. If a man could not keep up the 
pace he was instantly dropped. No matter how much 
the mills produced, Carnegie cried ''More!" "One 
manager wrote that he had broken all records the 
previous week. Carnegie replied: "Why can't you 
do it every week?" 



ANDREW CARNEGIE 247 

Six years after the steel works had begun, Car- 
negie was the foremost American in the business. He 
owned more than one-half of the company, and his 
share was worth about three million dollars. 

Yet while his men had toiled, Carnegie had taken 
life in an easy way. He had travelled leisurely 
around the world, and had written a book describing 
his trip. His years had been full of enjoyment. He 
was the director, the man who surveyed the whole 
field of his business. He stood at a distance that he 
might s'ee better. Wlierever he travelled, daily re- 
ports from each department of the company were sent 
to him, and his employees found that he studied these 
with the greatest care. The head of each department 
had to produce profitable results, or woe to him. 

Now the business changed into Carnegie Brothers 
and Company, with a capital of five million dollars. 
Tn the next eight years it earned sixteen millions of 
profit. Figure out the percentage! As partners 
dropped out, Carnegie continued to take their shares. 

Carnegie's fortune grew like a rolling snowball. 
His company bought out other plants and operated 
them. He had the most complete steel works in ex- 
istence, and there was usually a call for all the steel 
that he could manufacture. As steel rails had re- 
placed those of iron, so steel bridges replaced iron 
bridges. '^ Skyscraper" office buildings, with skele- 
tons of steel, sprang up in the great cities. Tire 
growing nation needed steel and paid well for it. 



248 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

In 1889 Carnegie formed the Carnegie Steel Com- 
pany, wliicli had but three members and a capital of 
twenty-five millions. It owned coal lands, coke-ovens, 
and many iron furnaces and steel mills. A railroad 
connected all the various works. The aim of the 
comjjany was to own everything needed in its busi- 
ness, so that it might be completely independent. 

In the northern peninsula of Michigan, explorers 
found vast fields of iron ore which lay at the surface 
so that it could be dug out like so much dirt. The 
Carnegie Company bought a tract of ground which 
contained enough to last many years. But this ore 
was a thousand miles from Pittsburgh. To keep steel 
cheap, the ore would have to be hauled clieaply. The 
company bought a railroad which ran from Pitts- 
burgh to Lake Erie, rebuilt it for its whole length of 
over two hundred miles, and the Bessemer and Lake 
Erie Eailroad has hauled the ore ever since. 

To avoid paying for water freight the company 
bought its own lake fleet of ore-carrying steamers. 
Now the company could produce steel with no thanks 
to other concerns — it had the ore, the coal, the coke, 
the ships, the cars, the furnaces and the mills. Most 
of the profits went back into the business. Carnegie 
never ceased erecting buildings, placing new machin- 
ery, improving where possible. Machines replaced 
brute strength ; electricity ruled instead of muscle. 

After Carnegie, 'Hhe little boss," had become 
powerful in the kingdom of steel, he began taking into 



ANDREW CARNEGIE 249 

partnership the brightest young men among his em- 
ployees. They received stock for which they paid 
from the dividends. Every superintendent tlius be- 
came a partner and took a partner's interest in the 
business, yet Carnegie controlled his actions. These 
young and active men stood ready for any task, no 
matter how great or how hard. They kept the Car- 
negie company ahead of all others. At the close of 
each twelve months each looked at his record and 
said: ''We shall beat that next year." The least of 
them made as much money in a year as the President 
of the United States then received. 

Carnegie was now the most prominent man in the 
steel business. He could look back on twenty-five 
years of success in this field. For the last ten years 
of that time he had retired from active business and 
had spent most of his days across the ocean in his 
own dear Scotland, though he still watched the affairs 
of the company with eagle eye. He was willing to 
sell out his shares if he received a good price. 

Other steel ' ' kings ' ' wished to form a combination 
of great steel works. No such combination could be 
sure of success unless Carnegie's company were in- 
cluded. He had the best machinery, the best mills 
and the best managers. He was mining over one- 
fourth of the iron ore dug in the United States and 
making one-fourth of the country's steel. Forty-five 
thousand men worked for him, and the company's 
profits were forty millions a year. 



250 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

The men behind the plan asked Carnegie his price. 
He named it, but the}'- refused to pay it. "Very 
well," said he, "I think that you will need my com- 
pany. I will take a greater part of the business than 
ever." Carnegie announced that he would buy bigger 
ore-vessels, build a railroad to the Atlantic, erect 
more mills and enter into new branches of steel man- 
ufacturing. 

The steel kings were terrified. They knew that 
Carnegie would keep his word. Unless they came to 
terms with him they would not only fail in their plans 
for the future, but would lose profits which th^y 
already enjoyed. They could not compete with the 
Carnegie company. "At any cost, buy him out," 
they cried, and gave him a higher price than he had 
asked in the first place — nearly five hundred million 
dollars for the company, in bonds and stock of the 
company which they were about to form. 

So the Carnegie Steel Company passed away, and 
the United States Steel Corporation, the so-called 
Steel Trust, was born. It controlled nearly three- 
quarters of the output of iron and steel in the country, 
and the rich men at its head were interested in banks, 
railroads and other companies which could help its 
business. It is now (1912) the largest company in 
the world. It makes over two-fifths of the pig iron 
of our country, nearly three-fifths of the steel rails, 
and much over half of other manufactures of iron 
and steel. It owns three-fourths of the iron ore of 



ANDREW CARNEGIE 251 

Minnesota and so has no fear of running short of 
material. At its command new cities like that of 
Gary, Indiana, spring up to pour forth more steel. 

Carnegie had now hecome probably the richest 
man in America. His income was fifteen million 
dollars a year. As he felt "half Scotch and half 
American" he decided to divide his time between the 
countries which he loved. He bought ancient Skibo 
Castle, in the far north of Scotland. There he spends 
the summer months. The bagpipes awaken him each 
morning; then he plays golf, fishes for salmon or 
cruises among the islands in his yacht. Yet at other 
times of the year his house on Fifth Avenue, New 
York, opens its doors for him. 

"I will devote most of my wealth to the good of 
otlrers," thought Carnegie. Education, of course, 
attracted most of his gifts. To the universities of 
Scotland he gave ten million dollars. For Pittsburgh 
he founded a great Polytechnic School where the 
sciences needed in manufacturing are taught. To 
encourage reading, Carnegie gave a fine library build- 
ing to any city or town which would maintain it. 
Not only did he encourage the teaching of the knowl- 
edge which the world already possessed, but he also 
gave ten millions more to establish in Washington the 
Carnegie Institution, which by its investigations adds 
to the knowledge of the world. 

In many other ways the millions made from steel 
have been applied to worthy causes. The workmen 



252 NOTED PENNSYLVANIANS 

who once served the Carnegie company receive con- 
siderable pensions when they become old or disabled. 
Those persons who risk their lives for others receive 
medals from the Carnegie Hero Fund; if they die 
through their heroism, those who depend ujDon them 
are supported. To all American churches who wish 
to have organs, Carnegie extends a helping hand. 

Increasing knowledge, intelligence and culture 
should lead the world away from war. The horrors 
witnessed in his experience of battle-fields have made 
Carnegie a strong advocate of peace among nations. 
At the Hague in Holland he has built a Palace of 
Peace, where delegates from disputing countries can 
arrange without bloodshed the questions on which 
they differ. 

Above the walls of Skibo Castle wave the Union 
Jack of Great Britain and the Stars and Stripes of 
America. They show the regard which the owner 
bears for both the land of his birth and the land of 
his work. So in return both sides of the Atlantic 
give honor and respect to Andrew Carnegie, whose 
wealth is being distributed for the benefit of both. 



"HEROES IN AMERICA" SERIES 

By Charles Morris 

Author of '■'■Historical Tales,'^ "Home Life in All Lands,''^ etc., etc. 

These volumes, devoted to the men and women 
who have made the history of our country, are inspiring 
for the young person and interesting for the old. They 
are valuable for history, geography, and patriotic teach- 
ing, especially for the growing boy or girl at that impres- 
sionable age when biography commences to be of interest. 

HEROES OF DISCOVERY IN AMERICA 

These stories of the explorers of the American con- 
tinent, from Leif the Lucky to Robert B. Peary, are full 
of thrilling incident, exciting adventure, and daunt- 
less heroism ; of dangers finely braved, of sufferings 
bravely borne. 

HEROES OF PROGRESS IN AMERICA 

This volume deals with the records of famous 
Americans from the colonial days, beginning with Roger 
Williams, and including statesmen, writers, inventors, 
scientists, reformers, not forgetting the noble women 
who have contributed their share to American progress. 

HEROES OF THE ARMY IN AMERICA 

From the great George Washington through a long 
list of men such as Israel Putnam, John Stark, Ethan 
Allen, and so on, down to Nelson A. Miles, the lives of 
these brave, strong-charactered men are here sketched 
in a clear, concise manner, their important achievements 
narrated, and their place in the building of American 
history fairly given them. 

HEROES OF THE NAVY IN AMERICA 

Devoted to our foremost naval heroes, from the 
early days of the government down to the present time. 
The book embraces accounts of all the heroes, from the 
days of Paul Jones to Dewey in Manila Bay and Hobson 
in the Harbor of Santiago. It is a spirited little volume 
containing a great deal of history put up in attractive form. 

Fully illustrated. i2mo. Uniformly bound in cloth, 
$1 .2^ net per •volume. 



J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA 



Home Life in All Lands Series 
By CHARLES MORRIS 

l2mo. Popular edition, cloth, gilt top, $i.oo per volume 
School edition, cloth, 60 cents per volume 

Book One 

How The World Lives 

fck XT is the most intimate, and gives us the best idea of the ordinary life of 
I those strange peoples to whom our author introduces us. The volume 
is both interesting and valuable in an unusual degree. A capital book 
for school or home." — The School Journal, New York City. 
One hundred and twelve illustrations. 316 pages. 

Book Two 

Manners and Customs of 
Uncivilized Peoples 

kkX^EW books of its size contain so much information, chattily given, as 
£• this second volume of an important work for young people. It de- 
scribes the customs of birth and death; courtship and marriage; laws 
and penalties; methods of travel; amusements; religious beliefs; modes of war- 
fare, etc., with a number of unusual illustrations." — Times-Union, Albany, N. Y. 
One hundred illustrations. 322 pages. 

Book Three 

Animal Friends and Helpers 

THIS volume deals with the animals friendly and helpful to man. It 
treats not only of our own familiar household pets and beasts of burden, 
but describes the animal friends and helpers of mankind throughout 
the world. The illustrations are excellent and the style instructive and enter- 
taining. 

Ninety-five illustrations. 340 pages. 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA 



LiPPiNCOTT's Readers 

By HOMER P. LEWIS 

Superintendent Public Schools, Worcester, Mass. 
and ELIZABETH LEWIS 

Profusely illustrated with new drawings in color and tint 

by Philip Lyford, and many black and white cuts 

in the text. i2mo. Bound in cloth. 



BOTH the text and illustrations of these books 
appeal to the child. The lessons are based 
upon standard literature. The vocabularies are 
not overcrowded, and as far as possible they 
are phonetic, especially is this true with refer- 
ence to the lower numbers. 

PRIMER .... 30 cents 

FIRST READER . 35 cents 

SECOND READER 40 cents 

THIRD READER . 45 cents 



J.B.LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA 



MAY 1 1913 



